As one ends another starts
by Bubbabowl
Summary: This story follows the life of Katniss and Peeta Mellark and their two children Willow and Rye. It has been years after the rebellion and the end of the games, but as a new president has been elected the rules have started to change...
1. Chapter 1

Willow pov

i wake up to the sound of my alarm, I can't believe I'm 16 and have a job, to be a teenager is about being free and be moody.

"Willow hurry up you are going to be late again" I here by gather shout up the stairs.

i run downstairs in my orange silk dressing gown and my green fluffy slippers. Yes I know it doesn't match they are my favourite colours people say I got the colours from my parents. My father loved orange but not any orange the orange the sky looked when the sun was setting. My Mother loved green, green like the meadows behind the victors village.

I look around the room trying to find something to eat on the go, my brother,Rye, sees my frustration and hands me an apple I smile at him and tank him and start heading towards the door.

"Willow" my mother stops me at the door and looks at me like I should know what the problem is.

"what!" I sort of yell, my mother looks up and down my and continues to fold the laundry .

"Oooohhhhh, thanks" I say as I realise that I haven't changed out of my sleep clothes, I sprint back up stairs with my apple get changed in to some skinny jean and a white vest top and he's out the door this time fully prepared.

When I get to the train station I grab a leaflet with all the times on it and the stops it takes. I stop my figure suddenly at district 4.

I work at district four, I help Annie and their son with the boats coming in. Annie's husband, Finnik, died during the rebellion. Their son, Robbie, is a few years older than me but I have known him all my life and he is one of my best friends.

I here the train stop and I put the leaflet away and get ready to get on.

It all of a sudden gets very busy and I'm pushing my way through the crowd of people trying to get on the train before I miss it.

I finally get on the train and the carriage I'm on isn't that busy there is enough seats so I sit down.

Its been about an hour now and I'm only a district 7, more people get on this time and I stand up so people can sit down. I saw this man walk on and he reminds me of someone from behind, the man turns around and I can't believe my eyes I haven't seen this man in years.

" Grandpa haymitch!" I yell

authors note

hey it might a bit short I don't know u guys tell me, I'm in the mood to write lots so there might be another chapter coming soon, hope you guys enjoyed as much as I enjoyed writing it


	2. Chapter 2

I start too walk toward him, I would run but the carriage is too small.

As soon as grandpa haymitch sees me he smiles and puts his arms up for a hug I run into his arms and I hug him as hard as I can.

" Oh kiddo you have grown since the last time i saw you" he points out

" well I haven't seen you in 3 years of course I would have changed" I say and let out a laugh and he lets one out as well

"I have missed u will" he says more serious this time. He calls me will because when I was younger he would wind me up because will was a boys name.

"why didn't you visit grandpa" I ask returning with a serious tone

He looks away and replays with "it's hard for me to come back I'm worried I'll start drinking again and I'll have flash backs and I'm all alone in my house I get scared. I probably sound like a pussy right now" he looks at me to see what I think about it.

" Oh grandpa hay, we will help you if you start drinking again, you can come live with us till u feel less scared or forever I'm sure mum and dad won't mind" I say and give him a smile.

grandpa looks at me smiling and I know he wants to come back, he pulls me into a hug and whispers thanks to me. I return the hug and whisper back "that's what family are for"

we break the hug and catch up.

so as you have probably guessed I am Willow Mellark, I am 16 years old and my brother, Rye is 14 in two days. My parents are Peeta and Katniss Mellark, they won the 74th hunger games and mother was the face of the rebellion but that's about as much as I know. I don't know anything about there time during the games they won't tell me or Rye. There is a large cabinet in the dinning room filled with all these different objects and pictures and a big book. There is things like a pearl and a locket and a bow and arrow. Rye and I aren't aloud to go in the cabinet which pisses me off, I am 16 I should know about my parents past. Every time I mention the games Dads face goes pale and my mum try's to change the subject. My Dad has these bad moments my mother says he gets flashbacks from the games and its hard to handle. I get it they don't like what that have been put through but surely they should let their own children know.

after talking to grandpa hay I realise I'm at four and he says he will call tonight to arrange some thing I hug him once again and quickly get off the train to meet Robbie.

i look over the crowd of people and standing doing exactly the same thing is Robbie, his face makes me laugh as he has not found me yet. I yell his name and stick my hand in the air. He finally sees me and we push though the crowd to meet each other. He pulls me into a hug to say our hellos.

"You smell good" I say to him after the hug

"do I now" he replys with a wink

"yeah like boys" i say grinning

We both burst out laughing for no complete reason. He punches me not that hard in the shoulder but I pretend it hurt. I started hobbling along the sidewalks

"A MAN IS GOING DOWN I NEED BACK UP NOW" Robbie shouts down the street

this makes me laugh as u start to walk normally again. Nothing seems awkward between us as we walk the rest of the walk to the pier in silence.

when I get to the pier I see Annie and I run and give her a big hug she starts laughing as I start to lift her up.

"Willow put me down " Annie says laughing

"fine what ever you say aunt Annie" I huff and giggle

"Right you two stop messing around and help me get this boat in" aunt Annie says as a nearby fishing boat rocks in.

" morning Mr fenefic, how was your catch, get any good fish this morning?" I ask

Mr fenefic is a regular he goes fishing every morning and always finishes as I arrive to the pier, he is always Robbie and i's first boat. For every boat we help we get £2:50 which isn't that bad. I use the money to buy food for the homeless and family's that need the help in 12, my family is one of the richest since we are living in the victors village but some aren't this lucky.

" it was really good I got 15 fish altogether, if I sell all today I should be able to make around £16" he says with such joy.

its been about 6 hours and I tell Robbie I'm going to go home he nods and gives me a hug Fare well

I go over to aunt Annie and get my pay for today's work, I thank her and give her a hug but this time I keep her to the floor.

I run to go and catch my train. The train back is longer we have to go all the way to the Capitol before we turn back. When we stop at the Capitol we stop for longer as there is more people. I watch the screens that are plastered to the walls at the train station. Something comes on about the president

 _president Poller has unfortunately passed away due too old age her funeral we be held later today more information will be given on channel 4782, we are starting the elections for a new president tomorrow at 12 noon, the election will continue till 12noon the next day anyone over 16 can vote including 16 year old, may the odds be ever in your favour_

They still use that frase "may the odds be ever in your favour" it makes me sick, the games make me sick, who came up with such thing.

The thought makes me angry and I decide to push it away. I eventually make it back to 12 for dinner.

before dinner I decide to go hunting with Rye, as Rye and I head into the dark forest I see someone, it's no one familiar so I draw my bow and Rye hides behind me

"come out of the shadow!" I say in a stern tone so the person doesn't think I'm scared

he as it happens to be steps out into the moonlight he is tall and has dark brown hair and I have no clue who he is


	3. Chapter 3

Rye and I start stepping back as the man walks forward.

All of a sudden he laughs making myself jump, why is he laughing?

He continues to laugh "you too both look like your parents"

" how do you know our parents" I say still holding the bow and arrow pointing at his chest.

"they haven't told you about me? How dare they" he laughs again " I was your mothers closest friend when I was younger then the games happened and it all just fell apart" he says but stops laughing

"I still don't know who u are" I say back taking in what he just said. If our parents told us about their past I would know if this guy is dangerous or not.

"I'm Gale, Gale Hawthorne" he says and sticks his hand out

the name rings a bell, I remember Mum talking about him to Dad

i put down the bow and arrow and shake is hand

"Willow Mellark" I say confidently, I then look at Rye waiting for him to speak up

"um... I'm uh Rye" he says not as confidently

"no need to worry kid I'm not here to hurt you" he says with a smile and ruffles Rye's hair

he seems nice enough, I don't know if rye thinks the same. I'm more calm now and relaxed

"why are you here then?" I ask curiously, I know everyone in 12 and they know me so I know who is new and who isn't.

" I decided to see your Mum, I was sitting here deciding weather I should go and knock on your door or not, and then I saw you two coming and I tried to hide" he says while sitting down on a nearby rock, Rye and I join him

"why didn't you just knock?" Rye buts in

"have your parents told you anything about the games" he says I a sort of jokey way and sort of not

"nope" I reply " Dad goes pale and mum changes subject "

"oh" says Gale "I can understand why"

"can you please tell us pleaseeeee" Rye begs

"sorry kiddo, your parents would defiantly kill me this time"

he reminds me a lot of grandpa Hay in the way he talks, I wounder if they knew each other. I decide to invite him back for tea since it's getting late and if Gale shows up maybe Mum and Dad will give me some answers.

"Gale you should come back for dinner, it's getting late and you are going to be hungry" I say sort of in a rush

"oh I don't know if your mother will approve" Gale say uncertain

"We insist" Rye says knowing that I'm not quite sure what to say

we all walk back to my house and have a good talk, he has lots of jokes and really easy to talk to.

i wipe my feet in the mat outside the house and walk in Rye and Gale follow my actions.

"mum we're home" I shout into the house hoping someone will come over to Us.

"just as I remember it" I here Gale tell himself. Has he been here before? I start to wounder how long ago they stopped talking it counldnt have been that long could it?

My thoughts get stopped as I here a glass smash at my feet I look up and I can tell my mum isnt happy

" hi mum" I say as happily as I could "I brought Gale home we all met in the woods he seemed nice and he said he used to know you a while back" I say and I do a big Grin. Just then my Dad walks in and his mouth drops

"hello Peeta" Gale says sheepishly

"just a moment, you can sit down if you like" my father says as calmly as he can, he grabs Rye and I and drag us into another room with my mother following, I have seen my Mum this angry but never My Dad maybe this was t such a good idea.

"what were you guys thinking" my mother says as she starts pacing the room.

"do you even know who he is?" My father says straight after mum so I couldn't answer mums question

"yes he is Gale Hawthrone and he has good jokes and we talked for ages and he was nice" I say happily

Rye just sits there with sorrow all over his face

"He is not a nice person" my Mother says getting very angry at this point.

" maybe if you told us about the games about your past maybe we could have known that and we could have stayed away" I am shouting at them at this point and I have stood up. "Maybe if you let us know even some of your past it could be useful you are hiding it every day all my friends know what you did and how you survived, I don't" I start to feel my self tear up but I push them back and don't let them fall " I don't even know who my parents really are" I sit back down next to Rye who is looking proud of what I just said .

my Mother sits down on a chair and sighs

"your right" she says and my dad puts his hand in her shoulder

"we should have told you earlier" my dad buts in telling that mum is about in tears.

"look let's not talk about it now Gale is sitting alone out there and I said he could have some food." I say as I walk to the door not feeling slightly ashamed of what I just said about my parents.

i walk to the hall way where gale is sitting and I say that he can stay.

throughout the meal there was a few awkward moments but other than that everyone was talking and Gale could never look happier.

the phone rings, remembering grandpa hay said he would phone I jump straight up and go and get the phone

"who is it?" Rye asks with his head peering over

"it's Grandpa hay, is it okay if he can stay here for a while?" I look at my parents who both looked shocked that it is papa hay

"of course" my Mum says with delight

Rye squeals and jumps for joy

"papa hay papa hay papa hay" he chants as he dances round the floor and grabs everyone's plate.

gale has left and I go to my bedroom and collapse on to my bed.

what a day I think to myself as I repeat the events in my head

getting up in a rush

meeting papa hay after three years

Going hunting in the dark

Meeting Gale

Shouting at my parents

Talking to papa hay over the phone

i am just about to fall asleep when my phone rings, I can't be bothered to pick it up and fall asleep lost in my own world


	4. Chapter 4

I wake up the next morning not bothering to look at my phone I decide to get breakfast first.

when I get to the kitchen I see that my parents and Rye are already changed and ready to go somewhere.

i look at the clock to see if I slept in but it's only 11:00 am.

"where are you guys going" I say with a confused look plastered along my face

" have you seriously forgotten? " Rye says looking at me like I'm a complete freak

i stay quiet but still have a confused face

"today is the day to vote and your 16 so you get to vote who you would like as next president" my Father says as walk towards me and gives my a morning hug

"oh shit, it is" I say and I turn around and start running up stairs

"language" my mother shouts as I'm half way up the stairs

"sorry" I shout back and close my bedroom door

I get changed and remember I have a missed call

i pick up my phone and it says I have 16 missed calls from Gabi, Gabi is my best friend in 12 we grew up together and she is the same age as me we are 5 days apart. I get really worried and call her back she picks up almost Immediately.

"AHHHHHH" she screams down the phone

"what!? Gabi you okay?" I say getting even more worried than I was

"WE GET TO VOTE AHHH" she screams again and I have to hold the phone away from my ear

i relax realising that she is only excited nothing else.

"Oh my god I know, I am so excited, Gabi come over and I will call Noha" I say getting excited this time

Noah is my other best friend he is a year older than Gabi and I, we are like the trio of 12 everybody knows that we are best friends and always will.

"yes yes yes be over in 5 byeeeee" she squeals and hangs up

I go to call Noha and he says he will be over in 10 minutes he lives a bit further away than Gabi.

i put down the phone and go tell my parents that Noha and Gabi will be over shortly, they don't object they love Noha and Gabi they come over all the time.

I just sit down when the door bell goes I don't bother to get up and get it so I let Rye. I know it's not Gabi or Noha because they let them selfs in.

"Hello Aunt Annie" I here Rye say.

i quickly get up and go to the door and hug Robbie and Aunt Annie even though I just saw them yesterday.

Robbie is Best friends with Gabi and Noha aswell so I'm so glad he is here, it will just be like when we were younger, aunt Annie used to come with Robbie every summer to 12 and we would spend the hole summer with Robbie, Gabi, Noha and I. So I honestly can't wait.

I continue to eat my breakfast when I hear Gabi Storm through the door.

"I'm here bitches" she shouts through the house

"Eh hem" my mother say as she walks past giving her a disapproving look

"sorry Katniss" she says and walk over to Robbie and I.

"Robbie" she shouts and gives him a hug

"hello nugget" Robbie replys with a smirk on his face

Robbie fancys Gabi, he has for a while now he is just too scared to make a move. Gabi fancys Robbie and she is also too scared to make a move. I roll my eyes a sigh, both looking at me to not make it so obvious, this makes me laugh.

noha is the last to come in and doesn't say anything and just walks to the fridge not noticing that Robbie is here he grabs a cinnamon roll my dad baked and sits on the counter

"remember Robbie how he was sick after eating a load of these" he says inspecting the cinnamon roll and still not noticing Robbie

Gabi and I laugh and this causes Noha to look up.

" Robbie" he cheers and they give each other a hug and do their handshake.

we then all do a group hug and head for the town square.

we get there around half twelve so people have already started voting.

We all go and look at the big screen held in front of the justice building and see who there is to vote

two lady's called

Gellion and Monaghan

And a man called Rose

Apparently Albert (is his first name) Rose is related to president snow who kept the games and he was the president when the rebellion was happening, so I'm not gunna vote for him.

When voting for presidents you just get the name and the face you don't get any information about them till after the voting has been closed.

i decided to vote for Anice Gellion, she looks a lot younger and looks more happier in the picture.

the others don't tell me who they voted for and I don't tell them.

when we get back to my house my parents have left a note.

 _hello willow_

 _we have left to go to the Capitol, the Capitol have asked us to go and help while there is no president we will be back as soon as we can the president will be anonced at 5:00pm tomorrow, it will be announced at the justice building go there with Rye. We hope you can make it a brilliant birthday for Rye, his presents are in the attic with papa hay, do something your brother will like please before you go to the justice building. we have dropped Rye off with Papa hay across the road, he came back. I trust you with aunt annie and Gabi and noha can stay as long as they please just don't cause too much trouble_

 _lots of love mum and Dad_

"so we have the house to our selfs tonight lads" Noha says rubbing his hands together

"no we don't, aunt Annie is her remember" I say looking to where she is.

as if on cue aunt annie walks in from the kitchen with her coat and bag

"Hi guys, haymitch has asked if I want to come over for the afternoon and have tea with him and Rye and I did say yes, so you guys better be careful and I will be back around 10 o'clock tonight, love you all" she says as she walks out the door and on her way gives a hug to Robbie.

aunt Annie has done very well, I remember someone telling me that after she won one of the games she went a bit coo coo. I still, remember this one phase where she would just sit there and stare out the window she wouldn't stop doing it. She would go in the middle of the night and stare. I was only 7 at the time so it always freaked me out, but thankfully she is much better now.

"now we have the hole house to our selfs" Gabi grins

" do you want to go hunting" Robbie suggests. Robbie loves to hunt when he comes to 12.

" as you guys know I know nothing about the games and my parents I say we should have a look in the cabinet" I say walking towards it

"um Mell I don't think you should, they could just be telling you soon" Robbie say uncertain

"oh come on scary cats, who am I going to hurt" I say opening the cabinet this time

" your parents" Noha says sternly

"oh come on guys" Gabi says wanting to see aswell

we all head to the cabinet and I take the book out and we sit on the sofa. I quickly flick through it, it doesn't have any words in it just pictures.

the first page had the reaping and a little girl walking out, the next picture was my mum running out. Did she volunteer? I wounder

the next is of both my parents on the stage.

i flick through the pages and see another picture of the quater quell, there's a picture of Finnik and my mum and dad on a beach. I look at Robbie who looks like he is about to cry, I flick through some more and there is a picture of president snow and a white rose and blood, another one of 12 when it was destroyed. I feel tears running down my face, there is skulls and skeletons everywhere in the streets of 12. One of the pictures are gale. Holding onto my mums shoulder both of them crying as they look down the streets. There is one which has a few coffins on it and my father crying next to , it has words at the bottom saying, _rip to Peeta mellarks brothers and parents who were killed during the bombing of 12._

Did my dad have siblings!?

I cry some more and I flick through another one where there is a bomb being set off and the girl that was at the start was there. They must of got these pictures from the cameras. Another one of coffins but this time it was my mum, _rip to my sister prim who died saving peoples lives._

My mum had a sister too?!

I burst out crying and so does everyone else.

i see another of my dad being tortured and my mum with a bruised neck.

there is one of johanna and she has her hair cut off.

I slam the book closed. I now understand why they didn't tell us. They went through so much. I know it's only pictures from videos, but I can see why my dad has bad moments and my mum has nightmares. I put it back in the cabinet and look at the pictures that have been put in picture frames. There is one of much mum and gale and two other people I don't know. It's the girl from the reaping in the first picture and an older women must be my mums mum. I see a pearl and I look in the locket and see gales face and the girls face and my mums mums face. I put everything back and close the door.

"I wish I never looked" I cry out


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, so this is my first fanfic and I can see people have been reading. Hope it's good guys. Please leave me reviews, I would like to see if you like I it or not . and if you want you can favourite and follow ️ ️**

That night we all sleep in my bedroom Gabi sleeps with me while Robbie and Noha sleep on the floor with some pillows.

i wake up really early because it's Rye's birthday and I want to do something fun. I wake up the others and once we are dressed we head to the woods.

After we had finished we all walk back up to papa hays house and get Rye. When Papa hay opens the door he is happy to see us all especially Robbie because they havnt seen each other in like 5 years. After we get Rye we head to my Dads bakers and Rye chooses 12 bread. 12 bread is the districts bread my dad made it and it has become very popular. It's the best bread in my opinion, they sell it in other districts aswell.

We all head to the woods with Rye munching on his bread and talking to Noha and Robbie as me and Gabi lead.

 **Rye pov**

I'm munching on the bread which is so good and I wounder why we are going in to the woods. We have been walking for about half an hour now when Robbie tells me to close my eyes, so I do and Noha puts his hands over them we carry on walking for another 5 minutes

"open" I hear Gabi say.

so I do

i am shocked of what's in front of me.

i am in the part of the woods where my friend and I used to come everyday but about a year ago he died from cancer. We buried him here.

its a big open space of green land in the middle of the woods with a river running through it, the river is quite wide and you can see the perfectly round stones at the bottom. Beside the river there is a blanket laid out with all my favourite foods on it, like cinnamon rolls and the 12 bread and chicken pies and it just looks all so nice. There is another blanket near it but this time has all these different things on it covered in wrapping paper. The sun is shining and is glistening off the water. I look around some more and I see lanterns in the big tall oak trees. There is a radio that's playing my favourite music and near one of the trees that is near the blankets is my friends, kyle, gravestone.

i go over to the gravestone and I see my sister and her friends walk off leaving me alone for a bit.

I sit down and take a deep breath, I don't come here that often.

"Hi Kyle, I miss you, I hope your having fun and not causing too much trouble" I say and I laugh to myself

I lay back and think about all the things we did here.

i remember one time we were playing football and the football went into the river and Kyle went to chase it down the river and he fell in when he tried to get it. I never laughed so hard in my life I think to my self.

i here someone come up behind me and it's my sister

"you okay" she asks

"yeah I'm fine, LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED! " I shout and hope the others come out as well.

they do and I sit have some food and open my presents. My parents finally gave in and got me a phone!

I got a football from aunt Annie and Robbie.

after I open them all I get up and start playing football with Robbie and Gabi. And suddenly the radio stops playing music and I look to see the time and it's 5:00 pm

 **Willow pov**

The music stops playing and we all gather round to see who the new president is.

 _Welcome to today's news. Today we will be announcing the new president of panem. So there were three people running for president and the were Anice Gillion, Holly_ _Monaghan and Albert Rose. The people of panem have chosen Anice Gillion as there new president congratulations president Gillion, any words you would like to say._

 _Yes thankyou fredril, (Fredril is panems reporter sort of thing like ceaser)_

 _I would like to say this, while I am president I am changing things, this isn't how panem should be like, the stuff on TV is rubbish and the Capitol is getting bored we need some excitement around here so I will tell you this now_

 _I am Bringing back the games..._

 **Hello again sorry it's short but I will be posting another one today so yeah and please leave a review if you can thanks again.**

 **Bubbabowl**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hellooo just like to say in these games it's between 12 and 20 to be picked**

I can't, this can't be happening, shit it is.

I look around me Rye is crying along with Gabi, Robbie looks at me worryingly. All 5 of us could be picked we are all between 12 and 20. Oh my god, oh my god

"I need to phone my parents" I say, I get up and start running. I can feel tears run down my face.

"Mell!" I here Robbie behind me he catches up with me and grabs my arm so I stop running. At this point I can't hold it in a cry and cry and cry, he pulls my into a hug and I cry.

" why are you crying?" He says stroking my hair

" what if rye is picked, or you, or Gabi, or Noha or me!?" I say sobbing "what if we die"

"look we won't die, if one of us go in we sponsor them we help them we make sure they come back alive" Robbie says calmly.

I just nod to sad too speak.

"I need to go home I need to know what happened to my parents" I say and run off

I get home and I walk in not really noticing anything around apart from The phone, I start to dial my parents number still crying.

"willow" I here someone say behind me.

i turn around and it's my dad, he has been crying, his eyes are all puffy and I run and give him a hug

"I will tell you everything okay? " he says with a smile

"what about mum"

"she is in her bed" he says really calmly

Rye enters the house and is stoked to see dad. Rye and I go sit down and my Dad goes to the cabinet.

Aunt annie walks in with papa hay and Robbie and the others. Mostly everyone is crying.

my dad gestures for them to all sit down.

Dad comes back with the book and starts right from the beginning.

its been about an hour and he only told us about the first hunger games, how mum was pretending to love him for sponsors and him joining the careers, and my mum joining with rue and fighting clove to save my dad.

He moves onto the second games, this is where Finnik come in the story and I see aunt Annie starting to cry. This time and hour and a half has past telling us about it. How the games never really ended, my mum broke the dome, my dad got taken away, Finnik joining them becoming friends, I now know about the pearl and the locket in the cabinet.

It has been another three hours till he finishes to the point where we move back to twelve when I was little. I can't believe how Finnik dies, and Boggs, and my dad being hijacked to kill my mum, Finnik and Annie, the rebellion, president snow, gale, auntie prim, my grandmother, it all makes sense.

My parents have been through so much and all I did was hassle about the nightmares that happened, i feel terrible.

My dad closes the book as we got to the end and put it back in the cabinet. I now know about papa hay and what he has been through as well and aunt Annie told us about her games and how someone volunteered for her at the quater quell. I start to tear up and everybody else already have. I walk upstairs dreading when the reaping will be.

This time everyone stays the night including papa hay and aunt Annie. I can't sleep every time I close my eyes I can see myself and all my friends in the games fighting one another so I stay awake. It's at this moment when I remember of my old friend, Cara, she is in 11 we used to be really close until her parents realised who my parents were. I don't know why they didn't like my parents, my mum saved rue.

I walk downstairs to the phone a couple years ago she made me remember her phone number.

I dial the number hoping she will pick up and she does

"hi Cara" I say feeling myself tear up

"hey girl, I heard it on the news" she says, she sounds like she can't sleep either

"can you not sleep?" I say sitting in the chair beside the phone

"nope, I miss you loads willow"

"me too Cara, it's been to long"

we sit there talking about the days when I used to go over to 11 and run through the fields and when she came here we would swing from the trees into the water. We sit there just talking about everything, and I forget, I forget about the games and the reaping times being anonced tomorrow, I forget when I am talking to Cara and I wish we stayed in touch and it made me realise how much I missed her and how good of a friend she was.

We decide to finish the conversation when we see it is getting light outside

i hang up and I'm not feeling tired, so I head to the kitchen and grab a hot chocolate and switch on the TV.

President Gillion is on, urgh I wish I never voted for her, I switch the Channels and on literally every channel she is on.

"talking about everything on TV is rubbish" I sigh

Gabi enters the room with my dressing gown on and sits beside me and rest her head on my shoulder.

"why" she asks

"I don't know Gabi, I don't know" I say and put rest my head on her shoulder.

she drinks the rest of my hot chocolate and we continue to watch president Gillion go over the rules for the hunger games for people who don't know, 24 go in only 1 comes out.

i can't believe her, how can one person be so mean, how about we put her in the games and then she will re think her decision.

President rambles on and before we know it its 8:00 in the morning and everyone saunters in, Robbie and Noha join us on the sofa the adults stand and Rye sits on the floor. We are all silent and glued to the TV, eventually it's time.

 _and please welcome president Gillion_

 _hello panem, I hear you have been waiting for news, the readings will be held as usual, ladies will go first. The reaping will be in... Two days so we can start the games in two weeks, I hope to a good games this year, I will be visiting district 12 to see there reaping I have heard they have been good contestants in the years._

With that the screen goes black. Well that's it two days.

later that day aunt Annie and Robbie leave to go home as there is only tomorrow left then the reaping. Gabi and Noha leave later aswell going to see their parents.

I still can't believe it happening. The games. The hunger games. Made to entertain the Capitol.

That night I sleep knowing I still have tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day I wake up early half to the fact I can't sleep and I want to make the most of it in case I am picked tomorrow.

It's 5 am and I grab my jacket and put my boots on and go to the woods, I can hunt I was taught when little, but I preference just to walk in the woods instead.

I sit where Kyle was burried, Kyle was a good friend of mine too, and just talk to him about everything I don't feel as alone when I sit next to him.

Suddenly I here a russle from behind me, I jump up ready to defend myself hopeing it's not an animal.

A boy around my age stumbles out the bushes and wiping him self down. He looks up he has dark blue eyes with a slightly tanned skin he is slightly taller than me, so probably around 5,9/6,0 ft.

"Stalking are we?" I ask having no idea who he is

"ahaha no, I'm lost came for a walk and can't find my way back" he replys

" Corrie" he says and sticks his hand out

"willow" I say and shake it

" why are you sitting next to a gravestone" Corrie asks concerned

" oh eh my brothers friend died and they used to come here everyday was a close friend of mine as well" I say

"it's a nice place, eh?"

"yeah it is, I come here to think" I reply not sure weather I should be talking to him

"I don't know why I'm here to be honest, my dad says we are coming to have lunch with some people"

"oh aha, what district you from" I ask really curious where he is from

"5, you seem on a mission to find answers" he says while laughing

this makes me pissed

"look I came here to have a peaceful last day before-" I trail off and Corrie interupts

"reaping"

i look up and walk off, not wanting to talk to him, he is hot though, very hot.

I don't look back and I continue to head home

I walk in and see Gale and A woman sitting with my parents

"hi" I say confused, I thought my mum hated Gale

"hey bunny, I invited them for lunch since it's the last day before... You know" my dad says trailing off at the end

"ah right okay" I say as I walk over to Gale and give him a welcome hug (I'm a huggy person, I like hugs)

"so willow, this is my wife, Madge, and my son should be here, he went for a walk into the woods his name is Corrie."

My face goes blank, shit, the one I walked away from, the fit one, shit.

"you might have seen him, you were just in the woods were you not?" My mother says

"yeah I saw someone it could have been him, didn't talk much though" I say in such a rush I do t think anyone heard me. I sprint to my room. I come back down looking more presentable and this time Corrie is here.

"AHHH so the questioner is here" he says grinning

urgh, ass hole

" hey I'm willow don't think we have met" I say trying to ignore what happened in the woods

" no aha we met in the woods remember and you asked me a load of questions, remember questioner" he says being really cocky

"yes I do I'm not that stupid" I say irritated

"you look the part" he says with a smirk

"hey Corrie" I here Madge Say

thats it I'm leaving. I frab my jacket and head to the door

"Going to see Gabi" I shout

"oh no you are not young lady" my mother says and takes my coat off me and hang it back up

I moan and go sit on the sofa and surprise surprise Corrie plonks himself right next to me

"I wouldn't" I say as I turn to look at him

He has dark brown messy hair and his teeth are perfect

"what you going to do" he says

"You don't want to know" I say

"try me" he says will a grin

This makes me blush and I laugh

great I think he probably saw me blush and now he thinks I like him

the rest of the morning/afternoon is filled with laughter and fun

soon it is time for them to leave I say bye to them and give gale a hug and then suddenly Corrie grabs me and pulls me into a hug

" bye questioner" he says and he leaves

that night I sit on the phone to Cara who is very scared for tomorrow I hang up the phone and get into my pyjamas. I check my jean pockets to check for any loose change but instead I find a bit of paper with a number on it, I turn the bit of paper around

 _for you to ask more questions_

This makes me smile and I debate weather to call him

no

I can't if I go tomorrow I won't see him again

so I can't. I won't I get into my bed hoping for sleep but it never comes.

I keep rolling around in my bed and it's getting hotter and hotter and urgh I can't. I get up and go to papa hays room

he has a double bed so I slip into the covers and i fall asleep almost instantly knowing I'm safe for now...

 **hey so hope your enjoying it please favourite or follow if you want and please leave a review thankyou** ❤️


	8. Chapter 8

" willow run! " Robbie screams from the woods

I run as fast as I can I bump into the boy from 3, he stabs me right in the stomach and I fall to the ground

"willow, wake up, don't die on me" I hear Corrie say as he holds my head.

"willow!"

Papa hay is standing by the side of his bed trying to wake me up. I sit up.

" Right kiddo why were you in my bed" he asks

"I was scared I didn't want to sleep alone"

"ah right, I remember my first reaping I slept with my mum" he says sitting next to me and rapping an arm round me

"what if one of my friends are picked"

"it the first reaping in 20 years, try think positive, okay kiddo?"

"Okay papa hay, thankyou" I say and give him a hug and head to get changed

i walk into my bedroom and my mum has laid out a little dress, it's a cotton blue. I put it on and it goes till just above my knees, around the middle is a white bow sitting so innocently.

I here a knock at the door and it my mum.

"Mum, why did you get me a dress" I ask

" well I had a dress similar to this when it was my reaping but it got burnt in the bombing, I decided to get you one because you need to look presentable, I mean president Gillion is going to be here" she says. She has anger in the last sentence and I can see why.

i walk downstairs to see Rye dressed fancy as well, I give him a hug and he returns it.

I sit down for breakfast and no one is talking and it is silent

the phone rings and I immediately get up a get it.

"Cara!" I say happy to here from her

" willow I would just like to say good luck today"

" yeah me too Cara, good luck"

That's all we say cause we both know we need to go

my family and I head to the town square, when we get to the town square there is seats and a podium set on the stage and a big screen at the side, like when we were voting for the president.

My parents aren't aloud to mentor this year, they have been asked not to considering there past.

My parents say good luck and head to the crowd of people that are watching. I head over to the girls and Rye heads to the boys.

we got our figure pricked and I go and stand in the section for girls. After about 15 minutes everyone is ready and I hear Effie come on to the stage.

Effie hasn't retired or gone to another district, she really likes this job and she loves our parents, she used to come visit when I was small.

 _So hello everybody, it's been along time. As per usual I will play a clip and then get started, but as most of you know the Katniss everdeen and Peeta Mellark will not be mentoring this year and will be passed onto Haymitch,_

 _now I would like to welcome president Gillion_

She points to the doors and the doors open wide, president Gillion walks in waves and sits next to papa Hay

 _now lets get started,_

We watch the video and it's very random before I know it the clip is finished and I feel myself heat up and I start breathing heavily.

 _now ladies first,_

 _Rosian Hasworth_

I sigh in relief but then I realise who it is, Rosian, she is 14 and she has no home and has a wee brother she has to look after her parents died. I give food to her I help her. If she goes in this games she won't come out. I can't let that happen.

i find myself running through the crowd, why am I doing this, I can't believe I'm doing this, I take a deep breath

"I volunteer" I say as I breath back out

"willow no!" I here Gabi shout out and I can here she is crying

"stay strong willow" I hear Noha call out

I walk up to the stairs fighting my tears, I give a hug to Effie and she starts to cry. I stand back and see who my partner is.

" now for the boys...

Noha Heidiom"

my face drops, no it can't be, not Noha.

Someone volunteer

someone volunteer

I keep repeating this but no one does.

everyone is shocked they all know we are best friends. This can't be happening. We shake hands and then the peace keeper drags us both away ripping us away from the crowd.

I get thrown into a small room, it has a sofa and a table with a glass of water.

First to walk in is Gabi, I run into her arms, she hugs me so tight I can barely breath but I don't care.

"I love you willow stay strong. I love you" she says and crys more and gives me a hug. Then I peacekeeper drags her away

"I love you too!" I shout hoping she heard me as the door slammed

next to enter is my family.

They don't say anything we just hug and that's the way I like it. Again hey are dragged away by peacekeepers.

I cry, I cry and cry I can't keep it in. It bad enough with me in the games but Noha aswell.

Peacekeepers lead me to the train where I meet Noha. I hug him and he hugs back I don't want to let go. It feels like a dream it's not fair for anyone.

this only happens so the Capitol can have some fun, urghhh I hate them so much.

We head for the train station. I got onto the train and Noha and papa hay are already sitting inside. I walk I into the main carriage first, there is a big wooden table piled with food. There is a bar running up on side of the carriage. In one of the corners there is a sofa and a TV. I'm shocked of how pretty this place is.

Noha and papa hay come up and hug me and we have a massive group hug. I am very thankful papa hay is our mentor, instead of some randomer.

we sit down ready to watch the reaping in other districts. Noha grabs a paper and pen and hands it to me to write everyone down.

district 1, I write down,

boy - Aholed Heing

18, brown hair, eyes are a deep blue

Girl- Rose giden

17, long bleach blonde hair and a barbie smile

both of them volenteered

district 2

Boy - mahic brims

15, strong, dirty blonde, kinda cute

girl- Farell horn

16, dark skinned, black hair Bob.

District 3

boy - houde vid

12, short black hair swept to one side

Girl - Heidi gowns

14, real skinny, looks weak, long brown hair and slightly tanned skin

district 4

i sit up and watch this one as I know people from there.

there reaping looks a lot more official. The girl is someone called cally rose, I have seen her around but never spoke she is 15 and she has a good chance

and the boy is, I write down and look up

Robbie o'dair


	9. Chapter 9

No. No. No.

It can't be. No not Robbie. How he is 20!?

Oh yeah they changed the rules this year, Gillion is a blinking cold hearted bastard.

Two of my best friends are in this games no this is not fair .no.

I start to cry, Noha puts an arm round me

"Why? Why us we havnt don't anything wrong!" I cry

"Your right we havnt, I guess it's fate" Noha says with a sigh.

It carries on the reapings.

District 5

Boy- Doren bind

17, strong , blonde hair, tall

Girl- glow bind

12, brother to boy, small and fragile

It makes me feel so bad when siblings go in together it not fair on anyone urghhh. This just makes me hate the president more.

District 6

Boy- dean cod

17, average,ginger but a nice colour ginger not a pure ginger orange

Girl- Yoni Dawson

13, small, short blonde

District 7

I never caught the names for district 7 or 8 or 9 because I went to the toilet and Noha wouldn't write them down urgh

District 10

Boy-owen gunis

16, a bit taller than me, tanned skin

Girl-gerwin Ruthin

12, tall, skinny, brunette

District 11

Boy-Harry Homs

15, black hair, dark skin

Girl- Caris longstaff

20, long pitch black hair. She volunteered

We have finished writing everyone's name except people from 7,8 & 9\. I can't believe this, Noha, Robbie and I, not everyone can come home.

I go to my room not wanting to talk to anyone and run my head through everything to make sure it isn't a nightmare.

I fall asleep almost instantly as I hit the bed.

i wake up really early around 5 am and can't see the point in going back to sleep.

i walk through to the dining room/living room , and I see Noha watching the 74th hunger games.

I go sit next to him and watch

We finish it and I break the silence

"not all of three of us can go home"

"I know" Noha sighs "I say we choose someone to protect during the games"

"this is a good idea, who do you think" I ask, hoping he says the same person I think.

"no offence but I think Robbie should go home

"yes me too, people need him back in 4 and in 12" I say agreeing with him 100%

" I mean he needs to, Annie will be alone and so will Gabi, and we both know they are all over each other" he says not thinking that we will be dead in the next three weeks.

It's obvious Robbie should go back he has every reason too. Noha has two brothers and parents yes they will miss Noha but they won't be forever alone, same with me both of my parents are there and my brother so they all have each other. But if Robbie dies, aunt Annie is going to be all alone and probably won't cope losing Robbie aswell as Finnik. Gabi and Robbie have something so they could sort that when Robbie gets back. It's better, hopefully one of us three go back instead of no one at all because Gabi will be all alone and don't think she could cope.

We sit in silent waiting to stop at the Capitol.

about two hours later we arrive and there are massive crowds standing at the platform trying to see who's on the train.

the doors open

"guys smile" I hear papa hay whisper behind him.

and As you do we smile. The crowd goes crazy when we wave and smile, I feel like we are the Penguins at the zoo in Madagascar and we have to entertain them and then it dawns on me, that's the reason why we are here, for there own entertainment.

This makes me stop smiling and I don't give a shit if people see me I want this to be over.

we arnt aloud to our apartments things till after we meet everyone.

i am split from Noha as he get whizzed away by these crazy Capitol folk, I laugh and then realise it's happening to me to.

We get into a small room with a hospital bed in the middle and a loads of tools and colour and stuff at the side.

" hi my name is daisy" she squeals "I'm your makeup artist

im sorta glad she is she is wearing the least makeup out of all three off them. She has turquoise hair that flows behind her as she walks, her eyelids are white with a silver lining, he lips are a deep purple and her blusher it pink and stands out.

" hello I'm willow Mellark" I say not that enthusiastic

" oh hush child, I know who you are " she says and laughs

"this is Musit, your hair stylist" daisy cheers and points to her left.

He is tall, he has jet black hair with streaks of purple, red and yellow through out his hair. He has gold Eyeliner on all around his eyes and a pink lipgloss and surprisingly it really suits him.

"Heya gurl " he says and gives me a hug

"hi" I reply a little scared

"and last but not least, this is Dine" this time daisy Points to her right "she will be helping with spa treatments and waxing and nails and all those fananagins" she smiles. Dine is the smallest and has red flowing hair that is pinned in a messy pun and there is a nail file stuck through the middle of it, she has heavy eyeliner, and she has done wings with her eyeliner as well which has come out great. Her lips are a blood red and her eyeshadow matches. Her cheeks are Rosie red, like most Capitol folk, she is very pretty.

daisy sits me on the bed.

I wonder why we are getting ready there isn't anything to get ready for

"What are we getting ready for?" I ask really confused

"The parade of course, this year we are doing it the days the tributes are picked" Daisy says as I was supposed to know.

" then the training starts tomorrow, this year it's 5 days of training and the 6th day is the one on one assessment." Musit adds

"But president Gillion says two weeks till the games" I reply getting puzzled

"Oh I think she was meaning a week unless they are giving you some bonding time, they gave you two days of bonding time after training in the 70th hunger games. But remember they do have the interviews as well" daisy says getting puzzled as well.

"Now lay flat" Musit says pushing my shoulder down.

I lay flat on the bed as they instruct, as soon as my hits the pillow Dine gets to work.

She starts with my face first, plucking my eyebrows one hair by one. It hurts more than expected. That is all she does on my face and starts waxing, everything.

As Dine is waxing Musit starts with my hair. I feel him put gel or dye or something in my hair.

I don't want him to dye it I like my dirty blonde hair.

" what are you doing?" I ask Musit

"Don't worry child I'm not dyeing it, we are washing it, Capitol style." Musit says and laughs a little.

I stay quiet and let people do their job.

Dine has finished with waxing and has moved on to my nails, she has a small stool and put it beside me and grabs my hand.

I move my eyes to see what colour she is doing them and it's a dirty green which surprisingly looks really good. It looks like the grass out side the mines in 12, green grass covered in coal. It's very pretty on my nails.

Daisy has already started doing my makeup and I didn't even realise. I do like makeup but not loads and loads like I have seen in the Capitol.

Dine has finished with my body but Daisy and Musit haven't finished and it been about 2 hours.

Finally they are finished.

"3" daisy says

"2" she says while putting on the last finishing touches

"1" she says and all three of them step back

" omg, gurl you look fabulous" Musit says enthusiastically

"You really do look stunning" Dine says calmly, that's the first time I have heard her speak.

"Right stand up and look at yourself" daisy screams almost and points to the direction of the mirror.

I stand up and slowly walk to the mirror. When I reach the mirror I am shocked. I look pretty. I look amazing. Apart from the gown but my hair and my face and my nails and omg everything, all look so so so so good.

My hair has thankfully not changed colour, it's still the same dirty blonde but it's now wavy instead of messy curls, a part of my hair is pinned back with a clip that has a leaf attached to the top. I love it. My makeup is amazing, I have very light green eyeshadow with a black lining and black eyeliner. My bright blue eyes stand out and look more blue than ever. My cheeks are a Rosie red, it's not too dark and looks natural. My contour is amazing my cheekbones look more than amazing. My lips are a very dark purple almost black. I can't wait to see my dress.

"Now that you have seen yourself we will go and get your clothes stylist" Dine says

I turn round and all three are standing there together I run and hug them all

"Thankyou" I say and I really mean it

"No problem petal" Musit says politely

We break the hug and they all walk out leaving me sitting on the bed waiting to see who my stylist is.


	10. Chapter 10

I sit in the room looking round, there isn't much a bed and some hair stuff at the side.

I hear the door open and it makes me jump.

"It's okay it just me" a tall blonde muscular man walks in.

He reminds me of someone like he looks like someone I have seen in pictures.

I try to pin the face while he brings in a rack of clothes.

I got it! He looks like Cato out of the 74th hunger games my parents were in.

"Hello I am Drake" he says and stick his hand out and as you do I shake it

"I'm Willow, nice to meet you" I say "you remind me of someone, but I'm not sure"

"Cato" he says and looks at the clothes

" yes!" I say louder than usual

"Well I am his younger brother, he was my older brother." Drake says quietly

"Oh, the hunger games" I say not wanting to say sorry because that's probably all he gets.

"I like you" he says and lights up and smiles.

He doesn't have any makeup on. He has a white tank top on and some black jeans and these black posh shoes, also has a tape measure around his neck.

"Now are you ready? " he almost shouts with excitement

" yes " I breathe getting excited my self

"Close your eyes" and I do

He tells me to go in the bathroom and not to look at it till I'm in the dress.

I have it on and I walk outside back into the room.

"Now let me just adjust a few things" he says and walk towards me with a pen and pins "right I'm done, go have a look" he claps like a 5 year old

I walk to the mirror again slowly.

my dress is like a long ball dress.

at the top it has no straps and a heart shaped neck line. It is orange and just below my chest the dress drops it shoots straight down and finishes when it touches the floor.

It goes from a sunset orange and fades into a green as it gets to my waist, it then fades from green into a coal black. I do a wee twirl in it and omfg I love it.

"now" drake says bringing me back to reality " press this button when you are half way down the run way thing" he smirks and hands me this weird button

"Is it for the flames?" I ask knowing it will have something to do with that

"just wait and see" drake says and head for the door "now are you coming?"

"Uh yes" I say a scurrie out

I meet Noha in the room with all the horses and carriages

he is wearing a long sleeved top that is orange at the top and fades into green just like mine. He trousers are jet black, like really really black.

 **Noha PoV**

when my team thingy was finished with me I walked too the carriages on my own and I was waiting about 5 minutes till willow came, she was wearing the most beautiful dress and it suited her lots .

I look across the hall with all the carriages and I see Robbie talking to another boy that I don't recognise.

 **willows PoV**

when I look over to noha he is looking at someone and I look aswell and I see Robbie talking to Corrie.

Why is corrie here!?

"Who is that other bloke" noha asks still looking at them

"corrie" I say puzzled and walking over

"willow" both Robbie and corrie say

Robbie looks at corrie puzzled

"how do you know willow?" Robbie asks

"parents are friends" corrie says and smiles at me.

"corrie why are you here, you weren't picked" I interrupted.

" i am now the boy from five committed suicide and we had to have another reaping and I volenteered cause a boy got picked who just turned 12 and I couldn't let him go in" corrie says almost crying

i run and give him a hug

"I'm sorry" I whisper into his ear

"I'm not" he says back and smiles at me.

i of course smile back,

a whistle blows for us to get too our carriages and I hold my tears back and step on to ours and I look confidently ahead of me.

Our carrige rumbles along the path thing after the others

we don't smile, but somehow we get the biggest cheers

I remember about the button drake gave me and I press it

fire starts at the back but it doesn't spread it stays at the black but the flames are long so it looks like grass is on fire. To be honest it looks like grass burning in 12.

I look at Noha and he looks at me.

He grabs my hand and it makes me feel a lot safer

we finish the parade and I just want to go to bed

district 12 gets a lift with 5 which isn't that bad.

When we are all in the lift I look at the girl from 5 and she looks so depressed that her brother died. It's such a shame that these games have made people think it's the end have a need to commit Suicide.

I stand next to corrie and he looks sad too.

I also look at nNoha and he looks the same, I bet I look like it aswell.

Papa hay breaks the silent

"corrie how you holding up son?"

"I'm good thanks haymicth"

"good good" papa hay says trailing off

We come to district 5 apartment thing and I say goodbye to corrie and I try say goodbye to the girl but she refuses and walks off.

 **hey guys I'm so sorry I haven't done a chapter in months so sorry I'll try and do more reguly .**

 **Thankyou guys ❤️**


	11. Chapter 11

It takes us a couple more minutes to get to district 12s apartment because we have the penthouse

i honestly can't wait to see it, it sounds amazing

the bell dings as we get there and I step out first and have a look round

when I stepped out I could already tell it was bigger than most houses in 12

when I walked in there was a coffe table a few feet away with 3 glasses of water. Behind that was the living space, there was a couple of steps into the space but as soon as you feet touch the carpet it felt like you were walking on clouds. All together there was 3 massive leather sofas one black and the other two white, they were put in a semi circle around a massive flat screen TV that was on a stone wall and the biggest fire place I have ever seen underneath it and to finish it off there was a glass coffe table with a big bunch of flowers in a vase.

There were some more stairs on another side of the living space which lead to a massive big mahogany dinning table with 8 chairs around it. Plus sosososososososososososo much food, all different types from a full cooked pig to small Chinese cakes and savoury cheesecakes.

At the back of the room there was a door which lead to a hall way with 6 doors, I walk into the first door I come to and its Noha's room. Inside it has a king size bed and loads of pillows, one wall is covered in windows and I can only hope my bedroom looks like this.

I try and open the next door but as soon as I open it peacekeepers come out of no where and close it and lock it.

I walk to the next one hoping it's mine,

" oh darling" musit says quickly catching up with me "your room is this way, you must not open any other doors you could get in a lot of trouble" he says very quickly and pushes me in the right direction then leaves.

i walk in hoping there will be no peace keepers locking it or musit telling me to go the other way. Thankfully it opens and there is a bed a big one too. The covers are a dusty grey will black patterns that look like ice patterns. There was a white dresser at the side and it was spotless, no dust nothing and the same as Noha's one of the walls was just a big window. I sit on the leather chair that faces the window out into the Capitol.

Tomorrow is training and I have no talents,skills , nothing.

I feel worthless, I feel crap

why me? Why Noha? Why Robbie? Why corrie?

Why these games?

i have a shower and boy let me tell you now, it felt good. I brush my hair and think about life and just why was this life picked for me?

I here a knock at the door and Noha walks in

"hey" I whisper

"Hi" Noha Replys

"why you here?"

"Well there is nothing else to do and the stuff on TV right now is shit" Noha giggles

" well you could go have dinner, it's quite late" I say trying to hint I want to be alone

" right, okay, bye" Noha says finally, eventually getting the hint.

but as soon as he leaves, I want him back, all of a sudden I don't feel great being so alone.

I decide to go through and get dinner cause I am very hungry.

I here chatting coming from afar and as soon as I enter everyone cheers to see me.

why is everyone so happy? What's so fucking fantastic about this?

I sit next to Noha who is sitting next to papa hay and our teams scattered across the table.

after dinner I say goodnight to Noha and papa hay and I go to my room,

but as soon as I walk in, it wasn't how I left it

the dresser was knocked over and sheets were on the floor with a note on the chair

a note I was too scared to read

I walk over to the chair and I pick up the courage to read it

 _so I heard you and your friends are in the games?_

 _I just would like to say make sure corrie dies, oh and Robbie and Noha would be nice too._

 _just get rid of the lot of you, I'll watch you in training, I'll watch you tonight, just make sure none of you get out there alive. And trust me if you don't I'll make those games a living hell for you and I might just kill you all myself_

 _lots of love xxx_

what does that mean?!

I can't, this is too much

i go through to the living room too scared to sleep alone in that room.

i turn on the TV and fedril is on. He is going through the history of the games from the very first games to the one where my mum broke the dome thing.

about an hour has gone and it's now on the 75th hunger games, I watch it carefully, watching people's techniques.

It interests me how many people tried to save my dad, peeta.

And ex president snow urgh snow

horrible little bastard

i sit and watch fedril talk and talk and talk, soon I zone out and I just see his mouth moving and then eventually I fall asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

"Willow!"

"Willow"

"WILLOW"

i wake with a jerk and papa hay is standing over me

"what" I say half way through yawning

"eh what do you mean what?, today is training ma dear"

"oh shit it is aswell"

i jump up and run to get ready since I'm on the sofa

when I get to my room it's all good again the sheets are back on the bed and the dresser is not lying on the ground

i start to wounder if it was all a dream like it didn't happen

there is an outfit on the bed and I assume that's the outfit I need to put on. I's a tight white vest top and three quarter length leggings and a pair of grey and white trainers. The outfit actually looks pretty decent not gunna lie.

i still have no clue what I'm going to do, I'm just going to go in and see what there is

I head to Noah's room and he is changed and we head for the lift

as we go down the lift all that I can think of is that letter

who could it have been? Someone i know? Someone part of this games?

But whoever it is wants my friends and I dead.

Noah pulls me out of my day dream and we head to the training centre

as we walk in there isn't many people there, none of the careers are here

I walk in trying to find something, I see corrie at the survival station and hurry towards him while Noah heads off to the spears

"hiya" I say

corrie turns round and smiles

omg he is fit, is smile is gorgeous ㈴5

"How's you?" He smiles while tying a knot

"I'm good ta, how did you do that?" I say puzzled and looking at a big knot around a wooden pole

"practice"

"I could probaly never do that" I laugh as I outline the knot with my fingers

i hear him laugh which makes me smile

"I can show you if you want" corrie smiles

"yeah, might come in handy"

"You never know"

corrie undoes the knot and passes it on to me

"right now what" I say puzzled

he grins and puts his hands over mine and guides them

His hands are so soft and warm to touch, this causes me to smile

"something funny" corrie say quietly as he sees my smile

"oh, no, nothing" I smirk

"can we go over to the arrows?" I ask hoping he is gunna follow

"of course" he grins and puts down the not and we walk together to the station

as we reach the station the careers walk in and everyone freezes

I don't understand why, if we show we are scared, they're going to think your easy bait

aholed and rose, from district 1, glare at me and expect me to be scared

But I decide to smile at them and when I do they look horrified and start whispering to district 2

i smile to myself and in the corner of my eye I see corrie looking at me and smiling

I avoid eye contact and grab a bow and arrow and head inside this little room thing

i shoot some arrows and all of a sudden I start shaking

I can't stop the shaking, and then I realise I'm having a panic attack

i get them a lot when I'm under pressure or something

I start crying and I break down and I fall to the ground and try and breathe

corrie ran in and held me and calmed me down

I looked up and Noah and Robbie are there too and it makes me feel a lot better. I'm glad to have my friends, but there not gunna all come out

the letter

shit the letter

i need to tell them


	13. Chapter 13

I stand up dusting myself down

I look up and thankfully no one has noticed

i think about telling them about the letter and debate wether to tell them or not

robbie see this

"willow what's up?" He says bending down to my level

"eh nothing, why would you think that?" I say more quickly than usuall

"Come on will" Noah buts in

they all know something is up

"there is this letter, I went to my room after the parade and the room had been turned upside down, there was the dresser on the floor, mattress off the bed, and on the chair hat had been untouched, there was this letter" I carried on and told them what the letter says

"look" corrie says "it's probably a joke or a prank, and if they are being serious then we stick together and work as a team and kill the person who ever try's to kill us"

i shudder at the word 'kill'

I'm going to be a murderer

the next few days we train a lot more and I feel much more comfortable going into the games

about a week has gone by and time couldn't be going slower

i suppose it's a good thing, but I'm bored out my mind

I walk through to get breakfast and then corrie walks in

this obviously cause me to smile but I try to hide it

"Oh, willow just in time come sit, there is a big day ahead of us" effie squeals

I am so tired of hearing 'you have a big day a head of you' I hear it everyday at least 3 times

I sit next to corrie, we have become really close in the last week

I'm not complaining, but it also makes me one more friend that I'll loose

"guys eat up, your getting tested today" papa hay says across the table

corrie, Noah and I drop our everything and stare at haymitch

"what?!" We all say in unison

"oh didn't I tell you" papa hay in some way shocked "if I didn't I was supposed to tell you couple days ago"

"for fucks say haymitch" corrie says

"thanks for telling us" Noah adds

i laugh and go to my room to have a shower

As I walk in the shower, I start to think, a lot

i think about what's happening at home, I wounder how Gabi is holding up, I wounded about Cara, I wounder about our cat

i think about everything

when I get out the shower I don't bother putting any makeup on

i put my hair in a pony tail and put my outfit on and grabbed a book from the shelf since I still have time left

The book is about a family who are falling apart, the children always fight with the parents and the dog is scared. The children ended up getting abused and they go to a place they call 'the hell hole' where they send them and it's a place where they also get punished

reminds a bit of the Capitol, you are living on basic rations in the districts, if you go to the games in three weeks there is a highly chance you won't come back alive.

I hear a knock at the door and I jump

Noah walks in and sits opposite me

"allies" he sighs "who do you want?"

"Well definitely district 5, and you can choose the other" I reply

" ummm I think district 11" Noah says looking up hopefully

"yes, I like that idea" I say quite excited "so 5 and 11, I think we could all be a good team" I laugh and so does Noah

i havnt seen Noah laugh in ages and it feels good

we sit a talk for a while, while we wait for the time to go by.

When the time came we got in the lift be headed down.

we went straight to the assoring waiting room where you go assigned seats. I was next to Mahic from district 2, he was already sitting there looking really nervous

i quietly sit next to him and he looked up and straightened himself out hoping I didn't see him looking nervous

"Nervous?" I say trying to start a convastation

Mahic sighs "yes" and smirks

"your willow arnt you? Willow mellark?" He continues

"yeah I'm am, and your Mahic Brims?"

" yup that's me, you know I had family in 12, grandparents died in the bombing there"

"oh I'm sorry, so did grandparents and my parents siblings"

"it's horrible, the Capitol has already taken so many innocent lives and now there taking more"

"district 1, Rose Giden" I loud voice booms out the speakers above our heads

"well it's started" Mahic laughs

"Yup aha, so your part of the careers" I say emphasiseing the career

"yeah unfortunately" he says quieter and looks around

"Do you not want to?"

"No, I was made to volunteer to save my sister, they were going to take her to the Capitol if I didn't volenteer, they said I was strong"

"oh I'm so sorry, I volenteered too if that makes you feel any better"

"really? They never showed that on TV, why?"

"well the girl that got reaped was homeless and had her wee brother to look after her, her parents died of shine"

"I like you" he says and laughs

"really? What makes you think that?"

"Well you volenteered for someone who you knew wouldn't be able to come back, we need more people like you"

i just smile

" District 2, Mahic brims" the speaker booms

I watch Mahic walk off

"mahic" I call after him

He turns round

"good luck" I add

"no, good luck to you mellark" he says and walks through the doors


	14. Chapter 14

The doors slide shut as Mahic walks through

I look for Noah and he is sitting across the room opposite me and giving me the 'so you and him eh' look

i just give a smirk back and look down at my feet

I have decided to go will archery and strength

corrie has been working with me on strength and says I should do it so yeah

this time I try look for corrie and can't find him

I start getting really panicked and then realise he is in doing his assessment

i sit back and watch everyone go in one by one

eventually it's just Noah and I

"willow mellark" the loud speaker booms

i walk in as I walk past noha he whispers good luck I smile

" you too" I say and walk in

It's a big room, it's got nothing in it except my choice in weapon, body action (strength) and a table

I look up and there is a glass floor with a couple people looking down

"Whenever your ready ms mellark" the speaker says

first I grab the bow and I start trembling

Come on willow

breathe

in

out

i calm down and point the arrow at the targets

I shoot the first arrow and it hits the middle of the target

"yasss" I whisper under my breath

I got the next 4 arrows in the middle too

"thankyou ms mellark, can you please move on now to body action which you chose strength, start when you are ready"

i pick up the large steel ball and move it to the meter line

i through it as far as I can and it lands and the 3 meter mark

i threw the other two and it got further each time

"You may leave" the speaker booms once again

I turn and exit with a smile on my face knowing I did well than I expected

when Noah walks out he is smiling to, I run and give him a massive hug and thankfully he did one back

"Wel how did you do" I say smiling that my cheeks start hurting

"I think I did quite good actually" he says smiling aswell

I squeal and give him another hug

i am so happy

a guard escorts us to a room with all the other tributes

I see corrie and Robbie walk towards me and I run and give them a hug

"your happy, wil, take it you did good?" Robbie says happily

"well I hope so" I said almost bouncing up and down

"I knew you would" corrie says

"what about you guys?" I say

"crap phaha" Robbie says "forgot what I was doing half way through"

"meh" corrie adds "could have been better"

i look around the room and there's chairs and sofas circling the outside of the room and in the middle there is bean bags and a carpet, on the walls there is two TVs showing the same stuff

"what is this, social club?" I say really puzzled

"yup" Robbie says

"Gillian has decided to do it this year, she says it will make the games more fun if we all knew each other we are in here for 3 days, food gets delivered" corrie sighs

"are you having a laugh?" I say in shock

for gods sake man

I already have enough friends in these games

I scan the room and the careers are in the corner

they are all talking, except Mahic who is lying on a sofa staring at the ceiling

I decide to go say hello

" so we meet again" I say and pull a chair next to the sofa

Mahic sits up "I believe so mellark" he smiles

"how did your assessment go" I smile

"pretty decent, I think anyway. You can't see what there thinking since they a liturlly right Above you" he laughs

"yeah ahaha, I just want to get my results to be honest"

"yeah me too" he replys

then there is this silence but it's not awkward it's just quiet

"so, mellark why did you start talking to me? I'm a career"

"well you honestly didn't seem like it, when you were sitting in the waiting room, I'd never seen a career be so nervous, you answered back which careers never do to a "twelvie" as you guys say" and I laugh "your different Mahic and I like different"

he smiles " thanks mellark, honestly no one has ever said anything nice to me like that before"

"well your welcome"

we have a conversation and i have never laughed so hard in my life

I have tears coming out my eyes and my sides hurt from all the laughing

hours have gone by and before we new it everyone was asleep

"oh I didn't even realise that everyone was asleep" I laugh

" me either, hey mellark come sit here, must be much more comfortable that that chair" he says and pats the space of sofa besides him

I sit down and look around, all the sofas are taken and all the bean bags

all of a sudden I get really cold and Mahic obviously knows this cause he takes his jacket off and gives it to me

"thankyou" I say and smile

"no problem, if you want to sleep I can sleep on the floor?" Mahic says

" no we can share, the floor will be freezing" I laugh and I place my head on his shoulder

by the time we are both comfy, we are practically spooning

he makes me feel safe


	15. Chapter 15

" stop, willow stop"

i look down and a body is infront of me and in my hand is a rock

the body has been beaten by the rock

all I can do is scream

I jump up and realise it was a dream as per usual

i look at the clock and realise that's it 3:30 am

"you got to be kidding" I whisper annoyed that it's half three in the morning

"you okay" Mahic says from behind me

I didn't even realise he was awake

"yeah, bad dream" I say and sit up

"what were you dreaming of"

"I had beaten someone with a rock" I say almost crying

"hey, look it's okay" he says and pulls me into a hug "it was a dream nothing more"

"I know but what if I actually do it though?"

"you won't, mellark I have known you for a day and I feel I have known you forever and I know you are not the sort of person who would do that okay?"

By this point he is looking into my eyes and holding my shoulders

"now let's try get back to sleep the alarm doesn't go off till 7:30"

he lies back down and so do I but this time Mahic puts his arms around me and hugs me

"sweet dream" he whispers

and with that I fall asleep

the alarm goes off and I suddenly jump up, like I'm ready to go some where but realise there is no where to go so I just wander over to Robbie

"morning" I say to Robbie prodding his side

he groans and rolls over

"Robbie" and I pull him off the sofa

"right I'm up" he says

"good I reply and move on to corrie

"corrie"

no reply

"corrie"

I prod him in the eyes and he awakens

"ow" he says rubbing his eyes

"should have woken up" I laugh and I go to find Noah

noah is already awake talking to Mahic

" morning noah" I say and sit next to them

"no morning for me eh?" Mahic laughs

"oh sorry hard man" I sarcastically say back

he smile and then I obviously smile back

we start chatting and both of district 9 come over

one of the districts I never wrote down so I don't know who they are

"hey I'm Florence rose and this is Ben handle" the girl says

"Hiya" I smile "I'm willow, willow mellark, this is Noah heidiom" I say pointing to Noah "and this is Mahic brims" I then say pointing to Mahic

"Arnt you part of the careers?" Ben asks while looking at Mahic really confused

"yeah" he laughs "surprised?"

"No. Well yes careers don't usually talk to anyone but them selfs" Florence says

"well I found out if you talk to others, you could find some amazing people" he says smiling at Noah and I

I obviously smile back so does Noah

all of a sudden the doors slide back open and there is a load of peace keepers leading us out into different rooms

i was put in a room with Farrell horn from district 2

"why are we here" she says shouting and banging on the door

"I don't know" I say sighing

"yeah I fucking guessed that thanks" she turns and shouts

what is her problem with me

well she is a career

I go and sit on a chair and watch her failing at knocking down the door

I smirk at this and she sees

"what? What?!" She comes up right to my face

i stand up knowing I'm taller than her

"I'm laughing" I smirk

"why you smirking hard man?" She screams

I put a fingure to my ear to show her voice is the most annoying thing

"well your trying to knock down a metal door, good luck with that one babe" I say and look at the door and sit back down again

"Urghhhhh" she groans and kicks the door and slides down it

"we are in here for a reason Farrell, and so is everyone else I'm sure it's another social thing" I say

"well I can't deal with small spaces I need to get out" and as she says the last few words she shouts them at the door hoping someone is there

"wait you willow, willow mellark" she continues

"yeah I am, why is everyone asking me that same question" I laugh

"well your like a mellark and plus you caught the eye of Mahic" she replys

"and..?" I say confused

"Mahic doesn't really let anyone in, he keeps himself to himself, and he really likes you and Noah, it took me a while to get friendly with him, but with you it's different."

As soon as she finished farrells team walks in and takes her away only seconds later Musit walks in and takes me away.

"what's happening?" I ask really confused

"it's starting tonight" Musit says

"wait what" I say puzzled and trying to keep his pace since he is walking really quick

"half an hour and then the games start" Musit says and suddenly turns into a room

I don't say anything

"oh darling" Daisy says and rushes to give me a hug

"but we still have a week, and what about our scores and the interviews" I say starting to panic

"look they don't matter now" dine says

She guides me to the ready bed, I lie on in trying to take everything in

they brush my hair and I see Musit get my clothes ready

I get my clothes on

there is tight three quester length legging and white vest top, practically what we wore in training but we also have a black and blue waterproof jacket which is really light. The trainers are very comfy

I walk back out still shitting myself.

"Right come on hunnay" Musit says "let's go we have 3 minutes"

"ok"


	16. Chapter 16

i still can't really believe

i give my team a hug

I give Musit a separate hug and he forces something into my hand

I look at it when we break up and it's a ring, a plain silver ring

but inside it says 'together we fight, together we fall'

"my sister had it when she went into war outside panem, that ring is the only thing I got back" Musit says and smiles

"no, Musit, I can't take this"

"yes you can willow, you are strong and promise me you will do everything you can to help your friends and yourself"

i give Musit one last big hug

'all competitors in the tubes'

a voice comes from no where, I walk into the tube and breathe while the tube closes

breathe

breathe

breathe

the tube starts moving up and I start panicking as I can't see anything

i look up and there is light, it carries on, I finally reach the top and is woodland, but it's hot very hot, like I have never been so hot before.

Its like the same set up from the 74th hunger games

i look around trying to find noha and I can't find him

shitshitshit

i see corrie and he looks terrified

i look to find Robbie and he looks like the most confused thing

i find Mahic and is looking at me

"good luck" his mouth gestures and smiles

I mouth back "you too Mahic"

3

shit it's at three

2

nah I'm no ready, where is Noah?!

1

fuck me

a long siren Wales and everyone runs

I stand for 2 seconds but it feels like a life time

I find myself running to Noah who is fighting someone but I can't fingure out who

I run and kick the person in the head then Noah stabs him

"shit" I say and look up to Noah

noah and I run into the forest with two bag packs, a spear and a large knife

We are running for about 20 before we stop

"well" Noah says sitting on a log catching his breath

i smile "right come on let's get up this tree"

"What both of us" Noah sounds shocked

"no just me, you can stay here and get killed" I sigh and he laughs and we both climb the tree

we get to a really large branch that we both sit on it

Noah goes through our back packs

"So we have:

a rope

pen knife

water bottle

paper

matches

sleeping bag

And a note" Noah says and pulls out the note

I grab it off him and start reading

"congrats on getting a bag, if you are reading this you must be alive, day and night will come at any moment in time. There will be things you have never met and food which you will never have thought existed, this is a new world and its up to you to adapt and survive"

"Well then" Noah says and sighs while looking in the other bag "this one is the same but instead of a sleeping bag it had a small first aid kit"

"well they have put a lot in these packs"

"think they want these games to last more than a week"

"great" I sigh "it's gunna be a long horrible nightmare"

all of a sudden it falls pitch black and very very cold

We tie a long bit of rope around Noah and I so we don't fall off

we hug each other in the sleeping bag for body heat.

i wake up and I have no clue how long I slept for but I'm not tired

Noah is still asleep so I just look up at the sky

I start hearing laughing in the distance

"Noah wake up" I whisper shaking him

he gets up very fast and we pack everything away and climb higher into the leaves so they don't see us

the chatter get louder and before we know it

the careers are right under our feet

We watch them hoping they go away but no

they set up camp

are you freaking kidding me?!

"Calm down" Noah whispers very quietly noticing I'm very annoyed

I see Mahic and he is not enjoying himself what so ever, I feel bad for him, if he leaves the careers they will kill him

they start a fire and laugh at storie that they share

I sit down on a branch and it makes a creaking noise

for fuck sake man

Mahic is the only one who hears the noise and looks up

he sees Noah and I and smiles

we both smile back but as soon as he sees us he starts trying to persuade the others to move on

"right guys think about this it's not even noon yet we can go catch food find water, we can stop when it starts to get dark" Mahic says jumping up from where he was sitting

" come on Mahic, have a seat and calm down we are the careers we kill anyone in our way" the guy from district one says

"who has water?" Mahic says

no one answers

"who has food?" Mahic then says

no one answers

"exactly" he carries on grabbing his sword and rucksack and everyone follows after Mahic making his point

Mahic looks stops and ties his shoes so everyone goes past

he looks back at us and smile and mouths 'good luck' and runs a catches up with the rest of them


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello, I know I wasn't posting in ages but I'm trying to do it more regularly now, really hope you enjoying it, and happy new year.**

 **rye PoV**

well that was very close almost got caught

im sitting in the living room watching the screen intensely

i wonder if she is friends with Mahic, who knows

who ever he is he shouldn't be in the careers he seems too nice

"right rye come on or you will be late for school" my mum says from across

"mum, you serious, you are making me go to school"

"yes I am"

"mum, willow could die and I won't see it and I want to"

"do not speak like that and fine you can stay off school but I'm calling in to find work for you to do here"

"fine as long as I can still watch it"

I hate it how they made them just go in with no warning what so ever and just put them in

all of a sudden I realise it's lunch

I go to the kitchen and there is nothing there

for fuck sake mum

I get my shoes on and head to dads bakery

I walk into dads bakery and there is loads of people gathered at tables watching the games in a screen in the corner

"Hello there rye, what you doing here" dad says cheery

"uh house is empty" I say and hand him money

in return he gives me a bag of cinnamon rolls, a loaf of 12 bread, loaf of ordinary bread and a pint of milk

"Bye dad" I say as I walk out the bakery

next I head to the towns market

"hiya Julia how is you today" I say smiling

I love Julia, I see her everyday and I have known her my whole life

"I'm good my dear, what would you like today rye?" She says standing from her stool

"could I please have a block of cheese and a stick of butter"

"of course rye" Julia says putting the item in a bag "willow is doing really well with Noah, the're a good team"

"yeah they are, hopefully they will find more ally's"

"I'm sure they will, they are very likeable"

"yes i know Julia" I say laughing "well I better head back, but you have a good day and don't get into too much trouble" taking the back of supply's

"yes same goes to you young rye"

i start walking home and just as I am about to step into the victors village I see Gabi leaving through the 'electrical' fence

I run and try and catch up with her

"hey Gabi!" I shout now that I'm closer to her

"rye please just leave me alone" she says sniffling

"Gabi you okay?"

We are still running at this point

" no" she screams and falls to the grass

Gabi starts crying

"Gabi what's up you okay?" I say crouching down to her level and trying to comfort her

" did you not see?!"

"See what" I say starting to panic

"in the games"

"what no?! What happened is everyone okay!?" As soon as I said that she burst out crying even more

this makes me terrified

"Gabi please tell me"

"he's dead" she says trying to calm down but it's not working

"Gabi who's dead?" I say very very worried at this point

she stops crying and looks up at me

"Robbie"


	18. Chapter 18

**Willow PoV**

thank God they left

we wait a good 10 minutes before climbing down the tree

we climb down the tree and go the opisite way from the careers

"Guys run"

noah and I turn round and the person who said it was Robbie

"RUN" he screams

"what Robbie why?"

"FOR GOD SAKE RUN" he screams once more

I'm he is still running but not far behind him is the careers with the large swords and nun chucks and everything else

"RUN" he shouts once more

"no" Noah says and starts running towards the careers and so do I

"GUYS STOP"

"are you fucking kidding me Robbie, we aren't gunna leave you" I shout back

He is still really far away from us

all of a sudden Robbie trips over a branch

and the guy from one doesn't hesitate to stab him in the back

"Nooooooooo" I scream and start crying and at this point Noah and I are running the fastest we have ever ran

the guy from one has an evil smile on and the other careers stand back in shock and Mahics eyes are watering

Noah runs up before me and wacks him across the head with his knife and he falls to the ground

the girls from the careers run off

I fall to the ground where Robbie lays

he is barley breathing

"Come on Robbie, don't leave me" I say crying so much I can hardly breath

"I love you" he says

"I love you too Robbie"

"Remember when we used to pretend dying" he just manages to say

"y-y-yes" I say smiling

I stroke his hair

"you always made my day big bro"

"I know so did you" he says hardly, " a man is going down"

i laugh at this as he is saying it from the last time I was in 4

"Noah" Robbie says looking at Noah " look after this one won't you"

"of course Robbie always" Noah says also crying " you always made my day"

Noah bends down and kisses Robbie on the fore head

"good bye" Robbie says and stops

"Robbie" I say shaking him

"Robbie!" I say a little louder

"ROBBIE" I scream

the hover craft is coming

"come on willow" Noah says trying to lift me up

"no" I say I can't se with all the tears in my eyes

he pulls me some more

"NO!" I turn round a scream at him

I hold robbies hand

"I love you, I'll never forget you"

The hover craft takes him away

I break down even more and give Noah a hug

"it's okay" Noah try's to say but he's crying too and knows it's not going to be okay

"He's gone" I say breaking the hug

noah puts his hands on my cheek

"he is gone but he will never be forgotten, but he would have wanted us to be strong and Carry on"

i turn round and grab a couple flowers and put them down on the worn grass where he lied

good bye Robbie

i see Mahic crying sitting at the bottom of a tree

noah sees him too

"I'm sorry" Mahic says "I was gunna kill him, I was gunna kill Aholed when I saw him chasing Robbie, he was too fast" he says crying even more into his knees "it's all my fault" he keeps repeating banging his head against the tree

"Mahic" I say and I go and put an arm round him "it wasn't your fault"

"none of it was" Noah joins in

Mahic says nothing

"come on" I say and help him up and give him water to drink

I grab the supply's that Robbie had and we walk to find food


	19. Chapter 19

We don't talk, none of us

we quietly hunt down squirrels and we start a fire and lay out our sleeping bags without saying one word

I still havnt really let it all in

the sky lights up and shows the tributes who have fallen

I walk away from the boys and sit down bye a tree

i look up and Robbie is looking down smiling, I feel tears falling down my face but I'm smiling to cause I know he is now at peace

 **Noah PoV**

i honestly don't know what I'm going to do without robbie

i didn't see him much in 12 but when we did it was like we were never apart

none of us says anything but I don't mind it, I get to thinks out things

Robbie said to look after willow and that's what I'm going to do

when we sit down at the fire the sky lights up and willow walks off, don't blame her Robbie was practically her brother

farrel from district 2 comes up and I look at Mahic and he is crying and I can understand why they were close and he lost aholed, I hear him whisper something probably to them but I couldn't hear. This makes me feel sorry for him and I start tearing up on his behalf.

I see Robbie light up in the sky and this causes me to tear up but I also think of all the fun times which makes me smile

"I love you mate, take care up there" I whisper to myself

 **mahic pov**

All I can think of is Robbie

if I just ran a little faster he could be with us right now

I never realised how close Noah and willow were to him till now, I knew they were close but they are all close as brother and sister and I can't imagine loosing my sister

when the sky lights up willow walks off

and Noah looks up and so do I

aholed shows up and it does make me tear up cause even though he did a terrible thing he was still a mate

farrel comes up

what? No.

this makes me tear up more

" bye Farrel, yes you could be bitch" I whisper and laugh to myself "but you were always there for me, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you"

when robbie shows up I just cry, I don't care who sees, he was a friend, and a brother to so many others

He is smiling in his little light up thing which cause me to smile

he was always smiling in training, in the parade I never saw him without a smile

but I regret not getting to know him better

I see willow still sitting and playing with a stick, I look over to Noah and he gestures me to go over so of course I do

I go sit next to her

"you know I never thought these games could cause so much pain" she says and places her head on my shoulder

I then place my head on her head

"I know same here, and it's all because we elected the wrong president" I say in return

" but I also never thought I would make friends, I never thought that my friends would die, I never thought it through and if I went to Robbie at the start of the games he wouldn't have been dead" she crys

i put my arms around her

"I'm not going to say that everything is going to be okay cause it's not, but I can say this, i didn't know Robbie for that long but in the time I did I found out that he would do anything to be happy and cheer others up, if it were the other way round and he was here, he would do anything to stay strong and help Noah, for you."

 **Willow pov**

when Mahic says this it makes me cry, it was so true and so beautiful and it made me happy

I break the hug and look into his eyes

"thankyou" I whisper

"I know" he says

he Kisses me in the forehead and stands up

"right Come on, can't spend all our time in here crying" he says wiping his tears and holding out a hand

"nope we can't" I say back and take hold of his hand

we walk back to the fire place where Noah has already cooked the squirrels

"right I guess it's time to see what squirrels taste like" I say and grab my serving of squirrel

We all laugh at jokes being shared and I suppose it's not thatbad

I realised that you need to be willing to let the important things go and let yourself have fun even though we don't deserve it, we need to let the ones that love you in

I lie onto my back and look up into the sky and appreciate everything that I have, my friends family, my district

Imisss it I miss them

But I guess this was my fait

And so be it

I'just gunna let fate take its course


	20. Chapter 20

I must of fallen asleep because the fire is out and Mahic is keeping watch

I look over to see if Noah is okay, he is with his cute smile he does when he sleeps

"Mahic you should get some rest" I say as I scramble out of the sleeping

"n-n-no, it's f-fine" he shivers

"you are freezing" I say to him as I grab my sleeping bag and put him in it

he is sitting in the same position just this time in a sleeping bag

I was busy hassling around I didn't even realise how cold it was

I look in my bag to see if there is any other layer I could put on but nope nothing

"hey willow, come in here" Mahic says and opens the sleeping bag

I don't object since I'm freezing

Mahic puts an arm around me

"are you sure your not tired?" I ask

"nope not even close not been sleeping well for the last few days, guess it's a good thing though, means I can keeps watch"

"so you like keeping watch then?"

"it's not so bad, lets me think and imagine a life without all of this and all that stuff" he laughs

"don't be ashamed I do it too, I wonder a life where I'm not the daughter of peeta and katniss mellark, I wonder what it's like to be that girl with the cat down the street, I wonder what it's like to have no parents and having to look after your brother. I'm not saying I want it I love my family the way it is I just wonder"

"well do you guess what I wonder" he says "I wonder what it's like to be that boy who everybody knows and loves, I wonder what it's like to live in the victors village, I wonder what it's like to have parents" he trails off at the end

"I'm so sorry Mahic, I didn't mean to-"

"it's okay" he smirks "you and I wonder different things but at the same time there the same"

i don't say anything back as I'm trying to figure out what the means

"wonder different things but at the same time there the same" I whisper to myself

"there you go will" he laughs "something different for you to wonder"

I look over to Noah and he's still breathing and smiling

"you know You remind me of my sister" he blurts out

" I know" I laugh "you've said"

" yeah you really do, all you care about is others, you check on them to make sure they are all right, you make sure everyone gets what they deserve even though it might put yourself in danger"

"I guess that is what makes me happy, seeing others happy around me even though I'm dying inside"

"do you bring yourself any happiness?"

"I do when I feel everyone else is, at home if I felt everyone around me was happy I would go to the woods and have a little me time and I think about what I can do to make others happy the next day, yes I know it sounds cheesy and crazy and like I'm a Wei-"

before I know it mahic's lips are push against mine and he is holding my cheeks

i don't object

he pulls away

"I've been wanting to that for a long time" he smiles

i smile back and just put my lips back against his

he makes me feel warm and forget that it's freezing cold

this time his cheeks are in my hands and he has his hands around my waist

a twig snapping breaks the kiss

"what was that" Noah suddenly says behind us

"no clue" Mahic says "you two, stay back" he grabs his sword and climbs out of the sleeping bag very carefully as do I and I go get my knives and Noah has his spear

"stop, it's just me" corrie sighs and stumbles out of the bushes with Florence and Ben

"oh my gosh" I say and run and give corrie a hug and then Florence and then gave ben a manly handshake which made us both laugh

corrie goes to Noah and they do there handshake

all of a sudden corrie runs to Mahic and starts punching him

"your part the careers" he screams in his face

"corrie get of pf him" I shout and try and get him off

he elbows me in the face and I fall to the floor, I get back up but I'm so dizzy I can hardly see

Florence tells me to sit down and take a drink of water when I look over to Mahic, Noah has corrie

"THE CAREERS KILLED GLOW, THEY KILLED HER WITHOUT BLINKING YOU COLD HEARTED FUCK" he screams

Mahic is hardly breathing he has blood all over him and bruised all over his lip

"it wasn't me" he hisses "it was aholed and farell, they're both dead now, happy?" He snaps

"corrie, Mahic isn't like them, he saved Noah and I and he almost saved Robbie" I say putting mahic's head on my legs and giving him water

"I don't care, he is part of the careers who killed glow and Robbie" he snaps at me

"do you even care that you elbowed willow in the face, do you even care that you almost killed an innocent boy?!" Noah screams at him

"Wait, he might not be his fully self" Ben butts in

"how come" I say curious

"there were these thing, they looked like pigs but with a stinger instead of a tail and it stung corrie, and I doubt that thing was harmless" Ben says

without a second thought Noah punches corrie straight on

no objects

he was being a bastard

"Mahic you still with me" I say drawing my attention back to him

"yup, glad someone knocked him out while they could" he smiles

"Glad you still have some humour in you" I laugh and I pat his chest

in about 20 minutes Mahic is back on his feet and able to walk and corrie is just waking up

"what, where, how-" he murmures

"right we gunna give it to you straight up" I say picking him up onto his feet " you almost killed Mahic by punching him for doing nothing and you elbowed my in the face and you won't stop screaming so Noah punched you"

"I honestly don't remember any of that" corrie says innocently

"we have a feeling it was probably that sting you got from the pig thingy ben Was telling us about"

corrie looks at Ben and Ben widens his eyes

"oh uh yeah I remember that" corrie says uncertain

that sentence he said and Ben widened his eyes makes me very suspicious and not wanting to trust those three

we pack up our stuff and start moving since the game people are making it day

Noah, Mahic and I walk way in front and I make sure the three cant hear us and I tell them what I think "I don't trust them"

"it's corrie" Noah says

"I know but there is something not right, I pig with a stinger? Come on, and when Ben said that when corrie was awake, Ben widened his eyes like ' just go along with it ' and then corrie turned round and was like 'uh em yeah I remember that"

"I saw that too and I wouldn't trust them at this moment of time" Mahic says

" fine but we have to act like we do and be carefull what you say around them" Noah says

"agreed?" I ask Noah and Mahic

"agreed" they both say at the same time

"come on you three, we don't have all day" I turn around a smile

"coming your majisty" corrie exclaims

"that's more like it" I say in response and carry on walking


	21. Chapter 21

after we have found more water and caught some more squirrels it starts to get dark

"we need to find somewhere safe to sleep" I say in the middle of the forest

" why can't we just sleep here" Ben says

"well we havnt bumbed in to any one but we can't risk sleeping in the open" I reply

"someone can just keep watch"

" yes but Ben if another group finds us and only one is awake we could all die" I snap and carry on walking

it's about an hour later and it's pitch black and I still can't find a safe place

" look over here" Mahic whispers and goes down this steep slop where there is a cave

"this is brilliant" Florence exclaims

"well come on, but becareful people might be In it" I say getting my knife out my pocket

"here let me do it" Noah says and lowers my hand with the knife

he walks in carefully and quietly

before I knew it this girl couldn't tell who it is runs out with and knife stabs Ben and Florence who are sending right of the cave and starts running up to me

I get my knife out but she was able to pin my to the ground, she stabs me in the leg and was about to stab me in the chest if Noah hadn't stabbed her first

three loud bangs go off

I still lie on the floor as I can not move and I stare into the dead girls eyes

then everything goes black

 **Mahic pov**

I see Ben and Florence on the floor along with the girl that attack us

I look over to willow and she is out cold

"willow" I say and run up to her and kneel next to her

I put pressure on the wound and hold her hand

"come on willow" I whisper

"let's get her inside" Noah says and take of his coat to tie round the wound

I pick her up and Carrie her inside and corrie follows behind

"right keep pressure on it and lift her legs up and pour water over her head" Noah says in a hurry passing me water and raising her legs by putting rocks underneath

"corrie for fuck sake come help me instead of standing there" I shout at him

"coming" he sighs

corrie throws water over willow

She doesn't wake up

Come on willow wake up

I grab her hand and kissit

"Please wake up willow" I whisper "please"

I look at noah and he sits there with his head in his hands like he has given up

I look to corrie and he is looking sorry for himself

"Are you guys really given up?" I shout "really?, this is willow! Willow would never give up and would never stop trying, if any of us were in her place she would do anything to bring them back, we are not giving up. Because we are strong, together we will beat this and if we have to, together we fall"

I stop talking and I draw my attention back to willow, she's still breathing but out cold

hours go bye and willow gets colder and colder

she is not waking up she is like in a coma

this can't be happening please willow wake up I scream in my head

"Right willow come on" noah says suddenly, he comes and kneels next to willow and takes her hand

"You may be able to hear this but you may not but I'm going to say something anyway" he takes a deep breath "you can't die on us!, you are strong and helpful and your God damn loyal" I look up to noah and I see his eyes watering "remember that day where Robbie, gabi, Rye, me and you went down to bury Kyle, and we sat on a rug next to his gravestone and went through stories and we laughed for the first time that day since days. Remember when I came to work with you and Robbie and you guys pushed me in the water and I was terrified cause you said there was man eating fish" Noah says tears are strolling down his face, but he carries on " remember when I first met Robbie we were only 3 but I got very jealous cause he kept talking to you, and remember that time where you and I had sleepover and we thought we were hard core cause we snook out and met Gabi outside of 12 and your parents never noticed. They is so many more because I spend everyday with you in 12 since we were born, you are not giving up on me, willow you are my sister and honestly I am gunna go Insane if you are not with me, you promised me you said 'together we fight, together we fall' you are not leaving me, I'm not letting that happen, I love you willow, please you can't die" he whispers the last part

they were freaking close I think to myself, I know I keep saying it but wow, I'm close with my sister but Noah, willow and Robbie they were closer than anything I've seen and I wish I had that.

 **Willow PoV**

I can't move I can't

I hear Mahic say this big speech about not giving up

and what feels like hours go bye and I can't move

urghhhhh.

all of a sudden gets very cold

very very cold but I get warm again, I can't feel or move but I can hear and I hate it

like god sake speak

I try moving but it uses all my energy

Noah suddenly speaks up and talks about all the memory's we have shared and in my mind I laugh but after makes me cry cause I can't move

I feel tears going down my cheeks

wait

I feel tears

I FEEL tears

I try and move my hands and I can and my toes and my legs and I can feel

thank god, I open my eyes and they do

thank god

"willow?" Noah says

I open my eyes more and I sit up and give him a massive hug even though everything hurts

I need a hug from him

I've missed them

I'm so happy to see him cause honestly, I thought I was gunna die

i sigh of relief

"thank you" Noah whispers in my ear

"I'm not leaving you Dumbass, you can't even walk to the market on your own without hurting yourself" I laugh and break the hug

"exactly" he says and we both laugh

i turn to Mahic and he is smiling

I just give him a hug

"thank god" he says

I laugh

"where's corrie?" I ask looking around and he's no where to be seen

everyone else looks round

"for fuck sake" Noah says getting up from the ground

i try and and get up but Mahic pushes me back down

"you are not going anywhere, you need rest"

" no I don't, I have been out for hours that's the last thing I need" I say and get up even though my leg freaking hurts

I limp out the cave following Noah and Mahic runs up behind and supports me so it's easier to walk

We stand at the entrance and he is no where to be seen

"What the hell" i say shocked that he even left

 **Corrie PoV**

I decide to leave when willow starts waking up since I was the one that almost got her killed

i knew the girl was in the cave

I told her that when she saw us you need to kill willow, Noah, Robbie

i feel so bad now, I wish I hadn't they trusted me and I genuinely liked them

when she read the letter I don't think she knew I was in the games, oh god what have done

she was pretty feisty I mean she wanted to do it 100%

Oh god

they don't trust me now

shit


	22. Chapter 22

**Willow pov**

"well then, he was acting really weird anyway" I say to myself while limping back into the cave

"pfft, I never liked him" says Mahic and the way he said it makes me laugh

a cannon goes off

"wait, do you think that could be corrie?" I say suddenly terrified

"right look, Mahic you might not like corrie and willow you might not care but I did and I'm going to find him wether your coming or not" Noah says getting his pack ready

"right then better get our stuff packed" I say jumping back up well not jumping but slowly staggering up

"Uh willow I don't think that's a good idea" Mahic says from the ground

"if you think I'm going to let Noah out my sight, your wrong" I say and put out a hand and he takes it and he stands up

We pack our stuff and we get out the cave and try and follow the footsteps of corrie or we hope it's corries footsteps anyway

i turn round to see someone coming towards us

"Duck" I scream and Mahic drops to the floor and I through the knife and it stabs her right in the chest

Mahic gets up and rushes over to see who it is

"Rose" he says softly

"Mahic" she smiles

It's rose Giden from district 1, and I killed her

"look it's okay, let go" Mahic whispers while holding her hand

"I know, after Farrel died I didn't see why I should go on"

"bye rose"

"bye big man" she says and stops breathing and as soon as she does the hover craft flies over the top

Honestly im surprised the careers went so fast, Mahics the only one left

"I'm sorry" I say as he starts walking back to Noah and I

"it's fine, she wanted to go anyway" he kisses my fore head

"Right lovebirds, let's get moving" Noah says and smirks

suddenly it's goes bitch black

great it's night time

"We're not stopping" I say "we got to find corrie, he could be injured or lost"

"fine, but you need to tell me if your leg gets worse or anything okay" Noah stares at me

"Fine" I sigh and Carrie on

I'm not sure who is left, not many I don't think, there was 24 I think there is about 10 or 9 left but that's quite a lot in about 3 days

we carrie on but no one can see a thing

mahic leads and I am holding on to his shouder and noah is holding on to mine

we walk for about two hours when we stop

"does anyone know where we are actually going" mahic turns round as says

"are you kidding me, we have been following you" I say in frustration

I am very annoyed that we cant find corrie

there was something up with him and I don't know what it was

and then he suddenly leaves and that no right

it starts getting brighter again

"these night and days are pretty fucked up" noah sighs and looks around him to see if we were following corrie or something else

"wait guys look" I say looking at bloody hand print on a tree

"it looks fresh" noah says "who evers hand that is must've been here recently "

"it could be corries, should we follow them or.." I trail off

"but then again it could be someone's hand who don't know" noah stares at it in frustration

"well if we don't follow this what else we gunna do?" mahic interrupts

"true true" I say and look at noah to see if he want to follow

he nods and we walk

I scream in agony as I take I step

my leg has suddenly got so sore I cant walk

"what!" Noah says worryingly and catches me before I fall

Mahic helps Noah sit me down against a tree, Noah rips my trouser leg so he can see the wound

"shit" he whispers

"what? what is it" I say tying to look

"its infected, and pretty bad" Noah says and gets water out of his bag

"for fuck sake" i shout in frustration

noah pours water over and oh jeez its painful

"wait shht what's that" Mahic say very quickly

in the speed of blinking everyone went quiet and all you could here was this small beeping sound

*beep* *beep* *beep*

it started getting louder and louder.

"wait up there" I whisper and point up the way

it was a small box with a metal parachute

Mahic caught it and opened it

it had a small note in it

 _always here, stay stong and don't give up, I cant loose all of you_

 _Gabi x_

I look at Noah and he looks back

I mouth _you okay_

he shakes his head

I don't blame him

its worse in here than I ever thought in here

Mahic opens the box and looks in

"looks like some sort of ointment or some shit" he says smelling the stuff

"pass here lets see" Noah says, he takes to small pot inside the box out and looks under it and theres a wee note

 _it'll help the wound_

Noah without second thought starts slowly putting the ointment onto the wound

and guess what

it fucking hurts

I try so hard not too scream as we're trying not to get seen or heard

the stinging goes down and my leg doesn't feel as num

*bang* *bang*

"well that's another two down" I say in disgust

we set up camp as we don't see the point in us going anywhere with my leg

in a couple of hours it gets dark and the tribute light up thing shines in the sky

4 more people dead

that means there is Mahic, Noah, Corrie, myself, the girl from district 11, Caris, and the boy from district 6, dean.


	23. Chapter 23

**Gabi pov**

i've never really been the same since I saw Robbie die, I can only imagine what it would be like if I was actually there

I cant stop watching the games

I havn't slept in days

I don't want to miss anything in case anything important happens

I still havn't really let Robbie go if you know what I mean.

when I saw willows leg I had to send something, I cant loose all of them

I want Noah and willow to come back but I know for a fact that isn't going to happen

it's so hard watching them in there and not being able to do anything

urghhhh

I will not cope if both of them don't come back, I like really need them in my life

i'm so fucking annoyed, I didn't even vote for Gillion

 **Rye pov**

I try and go talk to Gabi but her mum won't let me in

I try and talk to my mum but she is up in her room and won't talk

I try and talk to dad but he says go talk to your mum, im busy

I try and talk to papa hay but he is in the capitol

I would go talk to willow but she isn't here

I need to talk to someone, I'm about to go out my mind

I decide to go see aunt annie and I leave a note to my parents

 _wont be back till tomorrow, don't worry about me I know my way around_

 _rye x_

I go to the train station and there is like no body here, I just assume that everyone is watching the games

I get on the train and there is only 4 other people on the train, an old couple, a mum or something and a girl

and I'm no going to lie she's pretty hot

everyone looks at me as I get on except the girl

they all probably know who I am

I sit down and put my ear plugs in

I look up and the girl is sitting opposite me saying something but I can't hear it

I take my ear plugs out by this time she has her hand out and I shake it

"sorry I didn't hear any of that" I laugh

"ah, well my name is rosinitha but just call me thorn" she says with a big grin on her face

"uh...hi Thorn" I say slow kinda creeped out

"sorry if I'm so forward, I've been on this train for hours now and I need someone to speak to" she laughs and sits back in her sit

" well I'm ry-"

"Rye Mellark, I know" she cuts in

this makes me laugh

" how did you know" I smile

"history, you are quite famous you know" she says moving to sit next to me

" really?" I laugh " I'm not a big fan of history class since its always about my parents past and its a horrible past" I continue

"I feel you, my step mums old husband was in the games, but I don't like talking about it cause he was part of the careers"

"cato?"

"yeah" she laughs and blushes " Cato's brother works in the capitol, we're really close, but people hate us because of cato and no offence he was only trying to survive"

"yeah, I know, everyone was"

"well think of it this way, if there wasn't any games you and willow wouldn't be here"

"but my parents wouldn't be suffering everyday" I look at her and raise my eyebrows

"oh.. sorry, I didn't realise"

"nah it's good, where you heading?" I ask trying to change the subject

" uh 4" she says looking at her watch "been asked for a favour"

"what favour?"

"well Annie o'dair doesn't have anyone to work for her any more and she asked my dad if I could help"

oh yeah, I forgot about Robbie and willow is in the games

shes not going to be okay with her husband and son gone

shit

"really?!, shes my aunt, well like I call her my aunt, known her all my life, I'm going to see her the now" I say looking at her

I never really looked at her properly

she has long, straight, light brown hair, big bright blue eyes and amazingly straight white teeth.

"well that's good cause now you can show me the way to hers"

we both laugh and carry on talking and honestly I forgot all about the games and I was worry free and I loved it

we eventually get to 4 and she drags me off the train

"thought you didn't know where you were going" I say

she suddenly stops in the middle of the platform, which makes people behind us get frustrated

"oh yeah" she laughs and pulls me in front of her

we walk along the high street and head to the pier, there is these big screens like everywhere I look following the games

unfortunately both people from district 4 didn't make it so it now just follows round everyone and who ever is interesting

"thorn over here" I shout back as she has stopped to pet a cat

"just coming" shes says as she runs up to me

"this place is so pretty" she continues "much tidier and neater than my district"

" and what district may that be" I ask

"numero dos" she smiles and sticks up two fingers

"wait so you know Mahic?" I ask

"oh yeah, he's my brother"

"oh mae gawd, you two look alike actually" I laugh

she punches me in the shoulder and we both laugh

"RYE!" I look down the pier and see Aunt Annie crying running up to me

she brings me into a hug and she starts crying

"its okay, I just thought you might want some company" I whisper

"thankyou" she says and breaks the hug

"you must be Rosinitha, hello please come and have a drink" she continues wiping her tears and dusting her self down

"thorn, and of course" thorn says in return

we sit down and Aunt Annie tells her about the job and how Robbie and Willow used to work here and all

Aunt Annie goes and shows Thorn the pier and I stayed in the house

Aunt Annie had put up a wee memorial place for Robbie by the fire place, with pictures of Robbie and flowers and letters from other people

if only people knew in the capitol, how much pain the games left

I scanned through the pictures and I saw a group picture I picked it up to have a closer look, as soon as I saw who was in it I started crying, it was taken two years ago, in it were myself, Robbie, Willow, Gabi, Noah and Kyle and we were al doing this stupid pose at the end of the pier

i hated it how life would never be like that again, we will never all be together again, ever.

Aunt Annie walks in on me looking at it and i rest it back in the spot i picked it up from

"here honey take it home with you" and she hands me back the picture

"thankyou" i say really weak as i was crying


	24. Chapter 24

**Noah Pov**

So there is only 6 left

6.

what happens if its just us 3 left, what then?

do we go on our separate ways and fend for our selfs?

or do we kill each other?

 _to get these games more exciting, we are releasing new mutts. also there is a care package at the centre_

the voice echos off into the distance

"for fuck sake" I hear willow whisper

"same" I reply

"i swear to fuck I'm goig to kill that fucking Gillion" mahic screams not caring who hears

"Ill get the shovels" willow sighs

"ill get the hole dug" I add

we all laugh and decide to get a move on

 **Rye Pov**

I go find Thorn at the pier to say that she can go home

"hey Thorn, you can go home now" I say walking up to her

she is sitting at the end of the pier with her legs dangling off into the water

I join her

"i know, but I'm trying to miss my train" she says looking down into the water

"why, don't you want to go watch Mahic"

"yes, of course"

" then why don't you go home" I say with confusion

"well, Mahic volunteered, Mahic said he wouldn't volunteer, its not like him and my parents blamed me, they say that I'm the one her persuaded him to do it" I can hear her not trying to tear up " how is it my fault, I didn't want Mahic to go, my brother is my best friend"

"you know Willow was my best friend, and we fought and fought but we always had chats about life and deep shiz like that. I felt she was the only one who could ever understand me, who I could compare my problems with" I say hoping she does understand

"your using past tense" Thorn says totally ignoring what I just said

"huh?"

"you used the past tense, she isn't gone yet" she says

"yeah I know, guess I'm sort of used to it, since everyone talks about her in the past"

"are you expecting her to come back" she asks kicking the water

"no, she puts people before herself, she said herself she wont be coming back" I start to cry " but the truth is Thorn I want her to come back, I want her back more than anything, I don't want her to die"

 **Willow Pov**

fucking great, fucking mutts

"i say we go get that care package" I sigh

"same, its not like there is anything better to do" Mahic replys

I look at Noah and he nods

we start walking hoping we are heading in the right direction

we get to the edge of the trees before the big flat land of nothing with a table in the middle with 6 care packages

"do we just run for it or..." I say uncertainly

 **Rye Pov**

we sit there in silent and watch the sun set

"right do you wanna go watch the games" I say standing up and holding out my hand

"yeah" smiles Thorn and she takes my hand

aunt annie is already sitting watching it so we both sit and watch with her

so there was this announcement about care packages and they have gone to get them

I watch them all waiting at the edges of the trees but the thing is what they don't know is that the other two are waiting for them to run

AND WE CANT DO ANTHING ABOUT IT

the tension builds

and I am shitting myself, if they run at least one of them is going to die

SHIT

I look at Thorn who is about to burst out in tears

I hold her hand and thank god she doesn't object and holds it back

 **willow Pov**

"well the others could be watching us" I say really anxious

"well either way there is high chance of us dying" Noah says

I look at Noah and I can tell he is not coping, hes not coping at all

he looks like hes about to break down

"ready" I say taking deep breaths in and out

every one nods

we all stand up and I hold Noahs hand and squeeze it as this could be our last moments together

 **noah Pov**

I cant do this any more

I'm going insane

I just want to die

and I don't care I want to die

I look at willow and she can tell

we all stand up ready to go

willow grabs my hand and squeezes it and I do the same back

" see you on the other side Will " I whisper

she smiles and nods

and before we know it we're all off

sprinting like we've never ran before

 **Mahic Pov**

I cant die, Thorn

parents are going to blame her

willow and noah know they are going to die any second

should I be thinking that too?

I may as well

we stand up and noah and willow grab hands

"I'm sorry thorn, I love you" I say hoping she is watching and watching me

and within a blink of an eye we are running for our lifes

 **Thorns Pov**

I know he wont be able to make it

I know noah and willow wont make it, but by the look on all their faces you could tell they knew they were going to die

I watch them stand up and noah and willow join hands, I look at rye and his eyes are puffy and red and tears running down his face

"see you on the other side" noah says and willow smiles and nods

right there in that moment we all knew that they wanted to die and we all burst out crying

I hold ryes hand so tight he lets go but he puts his arm around me and I bury my head into his chest

" I w-w-would l-look t-thorn" rye trys to say

I turn my head towards the tv

"I'm sorry Thorn, I love you" Mahic says as the cameras are on him

and this is the moment where I know he aint coming back and honestly I don't want to watch but I do

 **Noah Pov**

shit shit shit

I look to willow and there is tears running down her face as we are sprinting across the field

I look behind me

"DUCK" I SCREAM

all I saw was deans face and a knife heading straight towards me

and as I fell to the ground I saw willow throw a knife

and it was at that moment I knew I was finally in peace

 **Mahic Pov**

fuck my life

I just run and run to a point I cant feel my legs

"DUCK" I hear noah scream I look over and I se noah on the floor with blood everywhere and willow throws a knife which hits Dean

willow looks at noah and she doesn't want to continue

she just breaks down right there right then

I look to my left and I see Caris with a bow and arrow ready to shoot at me

I drop my weapon

and I turn to face her

"please" I scream "PLEASE" I scream even louder with tears down my face

I look at willow who is looking at me in fear

and I drop to the ground

and it was in that moment I knew I was in peace

 **willow pov**

I cant do this

we are running so fast I cant feel myself breathe

"DUCK" Noah screams beside me

I look over and noah is on the floor covered in blood

I break down and I fall to my knees beside him

"please" I hear mahic says "PLEASE" he screams again I look at him knowing that its going to be his last moments

he falls to the ground and I see this blurry figure coming towards me, I cant see with all the tears in my eyes

I know its caris, I know it is

I hold noahs hand and kiss it

I feel so much pain shooting through my body and then nothing

and it was at this moment I knew I was in peace

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*


	25. Chapter 25

**Annie Pov**

I just lost my family

almost every single one

I look over to Thorn and Rye who are both sitting in tears

Corrie won the games

he found Caris and killed her when she wasn't ready

 **Rye Pov**

"uh I need to go home" Itry to say as I feel I just came back to reality and I need to get to my parents and Gabi

"the last train leaves in 10 minutes" aunt annie says grabbing her stuff

we all get our stuff and run the the train station

Aunt Annie gets the train to wait while we get on

we have to head to the capitol first though

I still cant believe they are dead

I knew it was coming but it hurts

its hurts so fucking much

we get to district 2

"well goodbye Rye, wish me luck in the hell hole guess I wont be able to see sunlight again" she laughs while crying

she is just about to head out the train door

"Wait Thorn!" she stops and turns around

"come home with us, we all love Mahic for saving Noah and willows life, you will be very welcome" I I continue and she smiles and comes and sits back down with aunt annie aswell

when we get to the capitol, people get on with fancy hair and makeup

my eyes are puffy and red and thorn is asleep on my shoulder

they all know who I am and I give the people massive daggers as they look at me since they enjoy the games and watch it

it a good 5/6 hours before we get back to 12

and by this time its about 11pm

people are still up in the square, grieving

I walk over to the justice building where people have already set up memorials for willow and Noah even one for Mahic

there is flowers, candles and pictures of them smilng and being happy

I just cry and cry

I see thorn walk over to Mahics and she smiles as people have found pictures of him and there is one of him and herself

"Rye!" I hear someone shout behind me

I look behind me as does thorn and its gabi

she runs and gives me hug

I cant bear to even think how she feels

loosing all her closest friends like that in an instant

" uh Gabi this is Thorn, Mahics sister, and Thorn this is Gabi Willow, Noah and Robbies best friend they all grew up together" I say pulling apart from Gabi

"hello Thorn, your brother did a great job in there" Gabi smiles#

"thankyou Gabi" thorn replys

I see that Aunt Annie has gone and then I realise she has probably at my house

"rights lets go to my house" I say

"ive never been in a victors village before" thorn adds

we walk the rest in silent as people say sorry and that as we pass them

I walk into the house and everyone is around the fire

papa hay is there hugging Aunt Annie, my mum and dad are talking to Noahs parents and Gabis mum is here as well

my mum and dad see me and run and give me a hug

and noahs parents do so aswell to me and Gabi and so does gabis mum

"so uh who is this" my mothers says smiling while wiping her tears

"this is Thorn, Mahic's little sister" I say

"hello mrs mellark, I'm sorry about Willow she was such a wonderful person from what I have heard" thorn says

my mum just gives her a hug

we all sit around the fire and have good chats

but all I could think about was how much better it would be with Willow here or noah or Robbie

I slip away from everyone and go for a walk

I go to the woods where kyle lies

"well kyle, a lot has happened, Willow, Robbie and Noah, they are all gone. they died" I say

I start to tell him everything that has happened like the good old days

I have the group picture from Aunt Annies house in my pocket and I pull it out

I just stare at it

Life is never ever going to be the sam

ever.


	26. Chapter 26

**Willow Pov**

ouch

"Willow" I hear someone say but I cant gather who

I open my eyes and mahic and Noah are sitting on my bed

"what the fuck" I manage to say trying to figure out what has happened

"come on you need to come see this" noah says helping get out of my bed

I have to massive bandage around my stomach and it hurts

what the fuck is happening

I follow Noah and Mahic to this big room and everyone is there

except Corrie and Robbie

where are they

everyone stares at me as I walk in

"where are we" I ask scanning the room and people have bandgages in different place and scars

"we didn't die" Noah says sitting me down on one of the seats "they kept us alive"

"what?! wait so we get to go home" I say very excited

mahic sighs, sits besides me and holds my hand

"no, our familys still think we're dead, once we are healed, we get surgery. surgery to change our face, change our hair, change everything" mahic says

"no. no. no. " I only can say as I'm in so much shock

"they are explaining it more in 5 minutes" Noah breathes

president Gillion walks in and no one smiles, no one says hello we all just stare hoping she dies

"well hello fellow tributes. so as probably most of you know Corrie won the games, for those new comers" and she looks at us three then at caris "now you know, he has gone back home and is living his life"

"hardly living it bitch" someone shouts, but I cant tell who

she coughs and continues "you will all be put through surgery and you will live different lives, you will be given a new name, and you will be given a booklet about your background and where you work and live. so your teams are going to come in and take you to sugery, it will take only a couple of hours and hopefully be successful. As od Robbe O'dair he is taking longer to recover from his wounds. you wont see him till after you all have had your surgeries " she turns and leaves the room

"well there you have it" Noah sighs

I cant believe this, what about our families

Musit walks in and he looks like the happiest bunny to see me

I give him a hug and he takes me away

I look back at Noah and Mahic and they both smile and put their thumbs up

two hours later and I have woken up and I'm already dressed

I look in the mirror

holy shit

I look fucking perfect

my eyes are now green, my nose is slimmer and my cheek bones are so on fleek with no makeup

I am more curvier than I was, my bum is bigger and my hips and breasts

and I'm no complaining, my hair is dark brown and straight in a long bob it stops at my boobs and my skin is slightly more tanned

I look nothing like I did before

Musit gives me my booklet and kisses me on the cheek

"good luck hun" and sends me back to the room

everyone is in there and I cant tell who is who

I sit down in the same spot I was in before

"willow?"

I turn around and theres this guy, dirty blonde hair and quite muscular

I look at him in confusion

"I'm Mahic, or was" he says

"omg hii" I say and give him a big hug

"you look so different" mahic says

"duhhh that's the hole point"

we laugh and noah finds us and he looks so weird

we sit in silence and we go through our booklets

my name is Weef

I live in a block of flats with Mark

I am 22 years old, I like traveling to diferent districts and help build things for the community

I hate how the capitol get more than the districts

well that's one thing we both agree on I think to myself

and I grew up in 6 and I went to the capitol and i guess it went from there

"does anyone know who Weef is?" mahic asks

"uh me, Why?" I ask

"well I guess we are living together" mahic says

I grab his booklet and look at it and yes he is mark

well at least someone I know

I smile

Noah lives opposite us and he is 19 so he doesn't have a 'lover' as they say

in a way I'm excited to start a new but then again I want my life back, I want my best friends back

another guy walks in and the fist thing he says is mine and Noahs name and that's when I knew it was Robbie

Noah and I run and give him a hug

I don't want to let go

I start crying because I thought I would never see him again

he also lives in the same block of flats as us he is Noahs room mate

I'm so happy

his name is rowan and Noahs names is Norrin

its going to be hard adjusting especially without Gabi


	27. Chapter 27

**Gabi Pov**

i wish they are still alive

even if I will never see them again I hope they're out there somewhere, living a life but not a dead one

I don't have anyone

I've never been close to my mother and I feel I can't speak to her and she hasn't been the same social or mentally the same since my father passed away a couple years ago

I now I have lost my brothers and sisters

I'm trying to find new people too talk to but no one can replace Noah or willow

its been almost a week since the games

and fucking Corrie seems to be loving his new life

everyday I go to the memorials at the justice building and lay down new flowers and relight candles

the other day rye and I went down to the woods and set up gravestones there next to kyles

it was hard but i'm glad I did it

I really am

I hardly go home any more

I just go round helping people like I used to do with Willow

I started going to school but its really hard to concentrate but I try and I try to work

Effie comes and sees us a couple times a week to see haymitch and see how we're all holding up

but there is nothing special happening here

its all depressing

I feel everysingle day its raining even though it isn't

 **willow/weef Pov**

everyones surgery went good and no one looks deformed

I didn't even realise but we were on an aircraft the hole time

we walked of the aircraft on to the air way road thing

peace keepers handed us a large suitcase each, a key and a piece of paper with our address to our house/flat and workplace

I wait for Mahi- Mark.

and we head into a new world

all four of us (myself, Robbie/Rowan, Noah/Norrin and Mark) get to the block of flats we now call home

"right come on then ladies" I take a deep breathe and walk in

we find our room no. and I say goodbye to Robbie and Noah for now

myself and Mahic enter our room and I cant believe my eyes

it's nothing like I expected, I expected something like a victors house just smaller

but its so urgh I can think of a word

its so capitolizy

MODERN

its so modern

but I love it its so cozy and ooft I just love it so much

I sit on the sofa and I go through my bag

and there is yet again another not within a load of clothes

 _bills and taxes will all be paid for, you go to work and provide money for any luxury items, food and drink will be dropped off to your house every day. we have everything covered. you did die. we owe you._

"well we have a pretty damn easy life" I laugh to mahic as I pass him the note

he smiles

there is a beeping sound and its the phone

I pick up the phone

its on speaker so we both can listen

 _Can Mr and Mrs Tine please make there way down to the train platform and pack for a 7 day trip. this is compulsory, you must attend. the train leaves at 4pm today thankyou_

"guess we're married" he laughs and just zips his bag up again as we are leaving in half an hour

"well I guess your stuck with me" I laugh and I give him a hug and I zip my bag up aswell

we head out the door and Noah and Robie walk out looking all smart in their suits

"I still have no idea where I work" noahs laughs still looking at myself

"mate I think its school" Mahic says looking at the tie

"you gotta be freaking kidding me" Robbie sighs

"right we better get going, we are going for a 7 day trip to god knows where" I say

"bye guys have fun" noah says annoyed and we head our different ways

we get on the trains and the peace keeper stops us

"you need to get off at twelve and then there will be peace keepers to guide you from there" he says and then lets us past

I look at Mahic terrified

I have to go to my home town and pretend I have never seen it before

we sit on the train and it takes us 4 hours to get there but it feels like 5 minutes

I step off the train and I see Rye, Gabi and this other girl go into the woods and my heart stops

I want to follow them but I cant

I feel Mahic take my hand and we follow these peacekeepers to an empty victors house

which Is right next to my house

WHAT THE FUCK

I cannot do this

I walk past my house and I look in the window and my mum is making dinner and my dad just left the door

" Mr Mellark" the peacekeeper shouts to get his attention

"yes" my dad says and starts to walk over

this makes my heart melt, I have missed his voice

"well this is Weef and Mark Tines, they will be living next door for the next week, they are here to help build the new houses for the homeless"

"oh yes, the project that Gabi yeres made happen?"

"yes sir, that's the one" the peace keeper replys

oh my god, Gabi and I were going to do that plan in the summer and we never got round to doing it cause to her I'm dead

I can feel tears at my eyes

"you okay madam" I look up and my dad is speaking to me

"oh yes , I''ve just got something in my eye" I say about to burst out crying

"well I got to head, but we should have you guys for tea sometime yea?" dad asks to myself and Mahic

"of course" Mahic says

and we head to the house

I run into the house and burst out crying

my dad didn't even know who I was

well don't blame him I do look totally different and sound different

the peace keeper is still here and he says we have to be at the justice building in and hour and help Gabi plan what is happening

shit I think

I cannot work with her she is my best friend

I decide to go to the justice building on my own

Mahic offers to unpack

I walk into the Square and I see all these candles at on the stage

I go up closer to see what it is and I soon as I see it

I want to cry and cry but obviously I cant, I'm supposed to not know anything

I look at my memorial, and there is willow flowers and candles and the pictures

they make me smile

thereis one of my family, one of my and gabi running through the woods, one of myself , Robbie and Noah and of course one of Rye and I

I pick it up and swipe my fingers along at and smile

"oi, put that down!" I hear someone say behind me

I turn round and Gabi is walking towards me furiously

"oh sorry" I say and put it back down

"I'm sorry if I came across rude, but please don't touch them, I spend everyday trying to make them neat and tidy" she says straightening up a candle

"of course I wont, who are these people" I say trying to pretend I have no clue who they are

"my family" gabi says, and I want to give her a hug so bad and I can feel my eyes watering up "Willow Mellark, nicest girl you would ever meet, only cared about others. she didn't deserve to die, when her and noah died, it took affect on the hole district. people wouldn't talk, it was quiet. people wouldn't come out there houses because noah and willow brought this district to life and they will never know" she says and I can tell she is about in tears aswell

"so I take it this is noah's" I ask and walk over to his

"yes, the pain the games caused is un thinkable, that's why I'm doing this project, willow wanted to do it, and I'm going to do it for her"

"whos is this," I ask this time walking over to Mahics

"my brother" I hear someone say from behind me

wait brother?

I turn round and this girl and rye stand there staring at me

"oh my god" I whisper and I started cying

that must be thorn, mahics wee sister

why she here

"um, you okay" rye says

"no, but I will be" I say and smile

I stick my hand out " willo-weef Tine" I say hoping they don't notice my mistake

"rye Mellark" he says back and shakes my hand

when he shakes my hand I start shaking

I just want to tell them its me

"hey Gabi is it okay if I go for a walk" I ask while shaking

"of course" and as soon as she says that I run towards the woods

 **Rye Pov**

why the fuck is there capitol folk here

and then I realise its for gabis project

but there was something so similar the way she looked at me

and when I shook her hand it reminded me of willow and I have no idea why

but it was so odd

as soon as she saw me she started crying, like I was her bestfriend who she hadnt seen in years

thorn goes and helps my mum make dinner, she has started living with us, her parents kicked her out after Mahic died

she starts running off into the woods and I start getting really suspicious

"should we follow?" I ask Gabi

"yeah, shes odd, something about her that doesn't seem right" Gabi asks

out of no where this man runs up to us

"hey have you guys seen will-weef" he says quickly

"uh yeah she went into the woods" I reply

as soon I said this he ran towards the woods

"right we have to follow them" Gabi says and starts running toward the woods and i of course follow

we get to the woods and we slowly follow their trails

we end up coming to our patch of grass in the middle and they are both there

"why us Mahic" I hear the women say

I look at Gabi in confusing

"why did she send us here, why couldn't of been someone who didn't come from 12, they didn't send Noah out, or Robbie and I have to walk around this place " she is in tears and I'm so confused " I had to pretend I didn't have a clue who Rye was, my own brother Mahic" the man gives her a hug and I'm so creeped out and confused

I look over to gabi

" I think that's Willow" she mouths while her eyes water up

nah it cant be she died

"willow calm down, we are only here for 6 more days" the guy says

"yes 6 more fuckin days where I am living next to my family and I have to pretend like I have no fucking clue who they are" she cries out "we are dead Mahic, even with the new Identity, we are still dead, there is no life living"

they both sit there in silent looking at the graves

its been about 10 minutes and i still don't believe it

"your sister" Weef says quietly

"what about her" the man replys

"shes here" Weef says

"what no. no. " he says annoyed

I tap Gabi on the shoulder and geture for us to leave and we do but I still cannot believe it.


	28. Chapter 28

**Gabi Pov**

no

no

no

I refuse to believe that is willow

no way that Is willow

she doesn't look like willow or sound like willow

and I watched Caris shoot her

I watched her die

I refuse to believe it

she would tell us

wouldn't she? I start questioning myself

"no way that could of been willow" I say to rye as we head to back to his house

"i think it was, the things she said, no stranger would say that"

"and is that Mahic?"

"well think about it" rye says "Mahic and willow kissed, those two are married if they did have another life then obviously they would be put together and if they are some random capitol folk how did they know about Robbie and noah. and when the women saw us she cried and started shaking, like she hadnt seen her best friend in years"

I start thinking about what rye said and it does make sense

when she saw Rye she started crying and you would obviously cry if you hadn't seen your brother in ages and then pretend you have no clue who he is

And that's why she picked up the photo of willow and rye

IT ALL MAKES SENSE

"so do you think after they well got injured they were taken and got, lets say a makeover, and got new lives and family and stuff" I ask curiously

"well yes, seems like it, should we tell Thorn?"

"no, Rye you cant say anything. especially not Thorn we don't have enough evidence" I say "just go along with it , yes it will be hard but for them its harder"

Rye agrees and we head into Ryes house

"hello there, we are going to invite the Tines over for lunch tomorrow, so make sure you are all here" Katniss says as we enter the house

"who was that woman she seemed so odd" thorn says while walking over

"that was Mrs Tine, she lost her son and apparently I look liked him" Rye says

wow that was a good story

"yeah, and she just got really shocked but shes fine now" I join

"ahhh right" thorn says and we all go sit down for dinner

 **Willow Pov**

Mahic and I leave the woods and we head to the square

"they even have a memorial for you" I say and we walk up to it

"I cant believe it I'm not even from here"

"well you must've done something right"

Mahic picks up a picture of himself and his family

and he smiles at it and puts it back down

"lets go home" he says and puts an arm around me

i smile and nod and we walk home

we walk past my familys house and we look into the window

My Mother, Father, Rye, Gabi, Thorn, Aunt annie and PaPa Hay are all sitting around the dining room table and laughing and being happy

"Its good to them smile" i say and look up to mahic

we have stopped and he staring into the window at Thorn

"its okay, you will get to see her" i say and we both stare in the window

yes i know its creepy but they havnt seen us yet

Gabi looks straight at me and as soon as she does i grab mahic and walk to our house

the next day comes fast

very fast like i just blinked and it was morning

i headed out to the justice building where i was meeting Gabi

Mahic had to go get food from the market

i met up with Gabi and i wanted to tell her it was me soooo bad but i cant.

we plan where we are going to put the house and how much bits of wood we need

"so what do you do for a living" Gabi asks

shit. what the fuck do i do?

"ummmmmm... uhhh i work as a ... uhhh... teacher!" it took me a while but i said it

"ahhhhh" says gabi

"so uh you still in school?" i ask trying to start a conversation

"yeah" she laughs "sucks though"

"tell me about it, the long days, the hard work and the short breaks" i laugh

"oh and mrs Dandy" she laughs

"oh my god yes remember when she didn't un tuck her dress from her pants and she wouldn't believe any of us" i laugh

"so it is you" Gabi says and stops laughing

"sorry what?"

"willow mellark, its you" she says about crying

oh shit i got carried away. oh no. oh no. no. no

"uh Willow? she died didn't she" i say trying to act stupid

"I'm not stupid Willow"

" look I'm not willow, i don't know what your on about" i say

"willow stop it!" she shouts and she is cying "i know its you, I KNOW IT"

"NO IM NOT" I shout back

"YES YOU ARE, ONLY WILLOW WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT STORY ABOUT MRS DANDY" she screams along with tears

I'm in tears at this point

"i cant tell you" i shout while crying "your not supposed to know"

"so it is you willow" she says quietly

i look up at her

i smile and before i know it she is giving me hug

i and give one back

wait. what am i doing. they arnt supposed to know

"wait you cant know, your not supposed to know. shit" i whisper to myself

"what are you on about" gabi says

"no no no" i whisper to myself again

i run and head back home and here gabi calling after me and not weef, willow

no shes not safe.


	29. Chapter 29

**Willow Pov**

I run back to the house and I can hear Gabi running after me and calling my name

"my name is Weef" I shout and stop and turn around

Gabi also stops

"what so did willow tell you that story?" gabi shout back

"you can't know, gabs. it's dangerous"

"and? I don't give. you will always be my best friend"

"no Gabi, I am not your best friend, get that in your head. cause if anyone finds out that you know that we are alive you could die. you cant know" I cant feel my self tearing up

"you okay" I hear mahic say behind me

"so is this Mahic?" Gabi says this time walking towards me

"no its Mark" I say trying to get it in her head that she can not call us that

"stop hiding it, willow, this is Mahic and your willow and all the other tributes are living in the capitol with other lives. just admit it please" she says almost in tears

"Gabi, its killing me," I start to admit it and mahic tries to stop me but I don't listen "it really is, going around here pretending I have no clue what anything or who anyone is, you don't understand gabs this is dangerous for you and its dangerous not just for me but also Robbie and Noah. you cant tell one soul, not one" I say by this time I am right in front of Gabi face to face "you need to promise me" I whisper

"I promise" she whispers back

"Weef we need to leave" Mahic says behind me grabbing my hand

why is he calling me Weef? I look to my left and, my whole family is standing at the door, Thorn is there in tears and papa hay is in shock

"shit" I whisper and both myself and Mahic run inside grab our bags and run to the train station

shit. shit. shit.

 **Rye Pov**

I am helping my mother making lunch and I start hearing shouting outside

"whos that" I ask and the whole family look out the window and see Gabi and weef shouting

we open the window and thorn opens the door slowly so they don't notice us

and they start having a fight about if she is willow or not

shit I think

please don't admit

please don't

hoping willow doesn't

and she does, and Mahic is right there and I can see thorn tearing up realising that he is her brother

Willow sees us all listening and so does Mahic

and they run and get there stuff and run to the train station

thorn collapses and my parents are in shock

"guys" I say and everyone looks at me "you cant say anything, just forget it happened" I sigh and go back to making lunch

"does that mean Robbie is alive" aunt annie says

"no!" I snap " none of them are alive! they arnt!" I shout the last bit and run upstairs

 **Gabi Pov**

oh shit

what have I done

I hear rye shout

"they aren't alive guys, we watched them die" I say walking past them into the house

"what so you saying my brother aint alive" thorn snaps

"are you freaking kidding me" I shout at them "don't you understand" I am getting frustrated "if anyne finds out we know the truth we are dead. willow is dead. mahic is dead. Robbie is dead" I say, they all still stare at me blank like a lost puppy "urghhhh" I groan. "its not safe for us. if it wasn't dangerous willow would have told, us" I say hoping there getting the point "they are dead, we watched them die. we are going to there funeral next week and corrie is coming round to give his sorrys. now unfortunetly weef and Mark needed to go so that means more lunch" I laugh and try and make the room more lively

 **Thorn Pov**

no it cant be Mahic

as soon as Gabi finishes her speech I run to the train station hoping to catch them

and they are there sitting on the bench

I run up to them

"i just want to know" I say "why did you volunteer?"

he looks at me blankly

please answer

he says nothing and I start walking off

"i had no choice" I hear him say

I turn round

"the capitol made me, they said if I didn't volunteer they would take you to the capitol and I couldn't live with that" he continues

"why couldn't they have made someone else"

"because I was the strongest in 2, they wanted someone who could win the games and not make district 2 look shit infront of the capitol" he still doesn't look at me

"oh okay, well see ya" is all I can think of to say and start walking off

"wait!" I hear him say I turn round and just like that he gives me a hug

I give him a massive hug and ive missed his hugs

he lets go and takes hold of my cheeks

"stay strong goergous" he whispers and kisses me on the forehead and heads back to the seat next to willow, where she is smiling

I miss him

but I understand now

I understand why he left

I at least know that he isn't dead but I also know that he isn't Mahic any more

and that's what I'm going to miss most


	30. Chapter 30

**Willow Pov**

I start to think weather we should just stay than go back to the capitol

the train pulls up just about 5 minutes after Thorn leaves

we start getting on

then I see these peace keepers running on to the platform

and try and got on faster with the crowd of people thinking that the peace keepers have come for us

I start shoving mahic

"come on mahic, move it" I whisper

"i cant there is people inn front of me"

ugrgghhh I see them getting closer

great

"Weef Tine, Mark Tine stop there" I hear a peace keeper shout

I turn round and there is another 4 peace keepers who grab us and take us back into 12

"escaping from the consequences are we?" he asks

we both stay quiet

we head into the square and there is the wipping stand in the the middle

wait shit have they found out!

"don't worry its not for you, well not yet"

not yet

whats that supposed to mean!

I look at Mahic and he is looking for someone probably Thorn so I try and look for Rye or anyone that knows

we get taken in the justice building and Gillian is standing there

"I'm very disappointed in you too" she says standing from her seat "we give you a second chance and you just make you selves look rubbish" she continues

what the hell is she on about

another man walks in and its a guy who works at the bakery

what is he doing here

"are these the two you saw" gillion asks the man

"yes, it was them, 100%" the man says

Gillion looks at myself and mahic

"right that's all, thankyou" she says and the man leaves

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU GAVE AWAY YOUR IDENTITY" She suddenly screams after he has left

"that was just a cover up, so that's why your getting your punishment, you broke into the bakery last night" she continues

"wait what?" Mahic asks confused as me

"your both getting 20 whips, your punishment for giving your identity away, your family and the people that know will get 50% of there wages taken off them for 3 months and house will be searched for any evidence"

how the hell did she found

"you don't think you are free and your not being watched do you?" she laughs like we are stupid

"right get them ready" she says and walks off

the peace keepers grab us and takes us outside where everyone is

and I can see my family and thorn is there in shock and Ryes face looks like hes about to be sick.

myself and mahic get forced to take our t-shirts off on the stage

then peacekeepers shove us to the ground

I'm in my bra and my knees are gushing with blood from the force the shoved us down

"these two broke into the bakery last night and tried to attack a staff member and tried to steal food" Gillian says through the microphone to all the people that have gathered to see what is going on

"they will both be getting 20 whips" she continues and nods at the peace keepers

as soon as they get the nod, the peacekeepers lift us both up and my knees hurt so muc. I look down at them and they are really badly cut, I'm wearing shorts so I could see it.

I look up and now there is two whipping stands next to each other

shit shit shit this is going to hurt

I look up and theres cameras on us and gabi is standing there horrified

I gave her a "i told you" look

we get shoved to our knees again and I just collapsed

"Get up" the head peacekeeper shouts

I try and get up but I can not put weight to my knees

and just like that the whip slaps across my face

"get up" he screams again

I suck it up and get on my knees

as soon as I'm on my knees both of our hands are cuffed to the side

I look at mahic and he looks so freaking scared as do I

I'm really scared, I feel like I'm back in the games and I don't like it

all of a sudden I start feeling really claustrophobic

and I start breathing heavy I try and concentrate I look at an object

I feel the first whip on my back and the next 10

I can hardly stay awake by the tenth

I look at mahic and he is almost out too

we reach 15 whips and I honestly don't think I can cope

I look up and there is this camera in my face

the camera moves and I see my family standing trying to catch my eye

"I'm so sorry" Gabi mouths

I just ignore it and go back to concentrating to stay awake

I look at Mahic and he is looking at me

we just keep looking at each other while the next three whips hit us

I am now pretty much hanging off the stand as I cannot stay on my knees no longer and I can feel blood surrounding me and my wrists are killing me and bleeding as well

I look back at Mahic and he is out

"mahic" I try and say

"Mahic" I say louder

"be quiet" the man with the whip says

realising I saying Mahic instead of mark

"Mahic" I say even louder

I look up to the peacekeeper and I see the the whip heading for my face

...

I wake up in the square

I don't know how long I was out but it was a while because the crowd had disappeared and so had the whipping stands

there was no one

not one single soul

I cant move

not even an inch

my knees are still bleeding and so is my back and probably my face too along with my wrists

I'm lying in a pool of blood

my blood

MAHIC

where's mahic!

"Mahic" I say weakly

"mahic" and try and say again

please answer mahic please

I see these too young men running towards me but I cant really tell who there ar...

...

I wake up again and realise I'm not in the square anymore but on a table in someone's house

"Willow" I hear someone say

I try turn my head towards the sound and thankgod my head can turn this time

"wheres Mahic" I manage to say

"shhht don't talk" he replys

"where am I"

"your in the spare victors village you were in, willow its me, Noah" he says

I look up and yes it is noah

I sigh in relief

"why are you here" I say weakly

"well your wipping went live and as soon as we saw it we got the first train out"

"we?"

"Robbie and I"

I smile

"where is he?" I ask trying to turn round since I'm on my front

it hurts so much but I need to get up

"he is just making some soup, look willow don't move your not fit enough" he says I dont listen to him and I sit on the side of the table

I look at my knees and they are wrapped in bandages

aswell as my wrists and back

Robbie walks in and helps me drink the soup

"i feel stupid" I laugh

"don't" he says and smiles

"wait where did you guys find me" I say remembering I woke up first in the square

"in the square, you were there lying in a pool of blood, people had just left you there" noah says

"what about my family" I ask

"they were escorted back to there house saying that you will be taken care of and peacekeepers stood outside the house" noah says

"they're all basically under house arrest" Robbie adds on

what?n!

"can I go see them" I ask

"no, the peacekeepers are still there. and plus you can hardly stand"

"uh yes I can" I say getting on my feet, its so sore but I don't show it trying to prove them wrong

"well now you can walk, lets get you back to the capitol" Robbie says walking over to help me

"what about Mahic" I suddenly say realising he isn't here

"uh.." noah pauses "he was taken back to the capitol, to a proper hospital" he continues

"wait what?!" I say pretty angry

"Gillian got him to a proper hospital because apparently he never said anything to give your identity away"

"so its all my fault now" I shout getting even more mad

"right come on lets go to the train" Robbie says

Robbie is helping me walk and noah is carrying my stuff

I hobble out the house and walk past my families house

everyone is at the window looking at me

gabi is in more tears than the rest of them

the peace keepers stand there and give me a look to say keep moving


	31. Chapter 31

**Mahic Pov**

I wake up in a clean white empty room

I sit up and my back aches and my knees along with my wrists

I look down to my wrists and knees and they're in bandages

I'm sitting on a hospital bed in the middle of the room

there is a metal door at one side and on the other a sink and a table of doctors or nurses stuff

I stand up and as soon as my feet touch the ground the metal door opens and walks in gillion and 2 peacekeepers

"where am I"

"your in the capitols 3rd hospital" Gillian answers

"wheres Willow" I ask only really caring where she is

"shes not here, we left her" she says and walks over to the window

"you did what" I said trying not to shout

"we left her in the square, she was the one who gave your identity away, you technatly said nothing" she says this time turning round to face me " you only got whipped cause she cares about you, and if anything happened to you then she would be devastated wouldn't she?" she continues

"where am I" I ask again getting the idea I'm not in a hospital

"well we cant exactly tell you, you see if word got out your here then " she trails off and leaves the room

"what the fuck" I shout at her

she turns round

"what did you just say to me"

"your a fucking bitch, you know that" mocking her

"you better shut your mouth"

"no" I say "I'm not going to shut up, you punish people for breathing, you shove people into the games land trap them like rats, you don't give a shit. you don't give one flying shit who "dies", you don't give a shit that there is loads of families suffering, districts mourning. and all you give a shit about is your own fucking entertainment, why didn't you just kill us? hmm?" I walk up to her and I'm right in front of her face not giving a shit "WHY DIDNT YOU FUCKING KILL US" I scream

she looks terrified she turns around looks at the peacekeepers

"take him away, you know where" and walks off out the door

the peacekeepers grab my arms and take me out the doors and shove a bag over my head

I walk up and down stairs

I hear people talking and I hear nothing at all except the sound of our feet

the bag gets taken off my head and I see the peacekeepers close a door behind them

where the fuck am I?

I stand up and look around me as soon as I do I know where I am

I'm in the lonely holes

the prisons of the capitol basically

its not clean

its the opposite

the floors are muddy

there is a bed in the corner, just a blanket and a small pillow on it

in another corner is a toilet and sink and on one of the walls there is a large window but no glass just bars so its freezing cold

I heard rumours about this place growing up

but none of them like this

shit I think

awe shit

I head over to the window

I look out and I'm so far above ground no one can see me

I didn't realise they were above ground to be honest I think to myself

"how long am I gunna be in here for" I whisper to my self

"hey is someone there" I hear this voice say not quite sure where it is coming from

"uhh yeah" I say back

"thank fuck, I been here for god knows how long gets a bit lonely" I cant make out if its a girl or boy

"where are you" I ask back walking round the room

"look to your left"

I look to my left where there is a stone wall and in the wall there was a small hole and an eye

I start walking towards it

" how long you been here for" I ask

"well I was counting the days, then the months and then after a couple years it all just sorta blurred together" she sighs making it out that it is a women

"I'm mark Tine" I say hoping she says a name back

"laura" she shoves her hand through the hole

and I shake it

"hi" I say shyly

"look your not going to be in here long, you said some shit to the president, I say 1 day, you'll leave tomorrow"

"how do you know that"

"ive been here long enough to know, people come through here almost every week for the same reason. when polller was here you were lucky if anyone came in, she never really sent people up here"

"why are you here" I ask

"well I cant tell you that" she laughs

"how?" still having no clue who she is

"the hole reason I'm in here was because I told someone and when Gillion became incharge I was supposed to be let out but then she saw why I was in here and decided to keep me here" she sighs

"oh" I say

"now please tell me why your here and what is happening in the world" she begs

"well" I laugh "like you said I'm in here cause I talked shit to Gillion, also I gave away my "identity" oh yeah the games are back on, I was in them, I died. I got 20 whips. I have no clue how I gunna get out of this mess, but I'm here so I have time to think"

"wow" she whispers "the games that was a while ago, wow" she sighs "the games" she says again like she was thinking about them

"you know about them?"

"oh yes" she says like it was obvious

"if you want to talk about it, we have all the time in the world" I sorta laugh

"well you see the hunger games before the rebellion?" she sighs once again "I was a makeup and hair artist for the tributes, I never agreed to the games I just did my job. went in did them up went home. when the 74th and 75th hunger games came it was different. the capitol was getting scared that the districts were taken over. " she says almost crying, and I start wondering why she is crying " Katniss. she was different. when I got assigned to her I was happy. scared. fascinated. I got put on her with 3 other people, one of which being someone called Cinna."

cinna, that name rings a bell

she looks at me and sees my confusion with the name cinna

"cinna was a friend of katniss' , they got really close, became really good friends through out the 2 games. but in the 75th hunger games cinna was beaten and killed"

"who did it" I ask really intrested of what happened

"the capitol, but guess who they blamed" she looks at me

I shrug

"this girl" she cheers and points at herself "i was the only one who saw two peace keepers drag cinna out so I'm the one they blamed, I got whipped for it, everyone found out. I got kicked out my job. kicked out my house. I was homeless. then poller found out and I tried to run and hide, I found this really nice family who were willing to take me in. I told them the hole story and the truth, but there was spys. and one of them snitched and then I got another 20 whips for lying and then sent here. and ive been here ever since" she continues

"wow, that's um, that must be hard" I manage to say

"ye-"

she is cut off by people screaming

"where am I" one of them screams

"get off me" I hear another say

I think there is about 2 of them

"for fuck sake" I hear one of the shout again but the voice is soo familiar

"willow calm down"

"Robbie don't you dare tell me to calm down"

"Noah wake up can you hear me"

"LET US OUT YOU DUMB ASS BITCHES"

I hear laura laugh "well it looks like we have company"


	32. Chapter 32

**Willow Pov**

luckily we were able to catch the next train

when we got to the capitol it was strangely quiet

we walked out the station and guess who was standing there.

fucking Gillion

of course she was

"oh great" I say not caring anymore

"come with us" she says and then peacekeepers come and surround us so we cant leave

"why the fuck would we want to go with you" I say

"i would just like to remind you who you are talking to" she replys

"yeah, a murderer"

"in matter of fact your all still alive, I killed no body"

"uh you killed us to our family, you killed us to our district, so don't you fucking dare say 'I killed no body'" I said mocking her the last bit

"take them away" Gillion says shocked

"not till you tell us where we are going" noah interrupts

Gilion give one of the peacekeepers a look and without a second thought he wacks noah across the head with his bat thing and he collapses

"what the fuck" I scream

I start running towards Gilion, I leap for her and she falls to the ground and I start hitting her

it wasn't for long cause peacekeepers take me off her

I look back and Robbie is fighting one of the peacekeepers and noah is out cold on the floor

we all get shoved to the ground and got a gun to our heads

we stopped arguing and struggling and kept quiet

they put this bag over our heads and they take us somewhere

we finaly get there and they take the bags off and we are in the lonely hoes

fuck this

"where am I" I scream tryning to get out of the peacekeepers arms

"get off me" Robbie shouts trying also to get free of there grip

we are in this long corridor with lots of doors on one side which I'm assuming is the cages

"for fuck sake" I say loudly and frustated

"willow calm down" Robbie says as we are shoved in a cell

"Robbie don't you dare tell me to calm down" I say and start pacing the cell

"Noah wake up can you hear me" Robbie says putting his attention to noah

"LET US OUT YOU DUMB ASS BITCHES" I scream again banging the door

I hear muffled voices coming from the wall next to us

but I cant see who it is so I just ignore it

"right willow calm it, we are stuck in here and I doubt we are getting out of here any time soon since we did attack gillion and peacekeepers so I would get comfy" he says getting Noah onto the bed and I help

 **Mahic Pov**

no way can that be willow

laura sees that I'm shocked

"why you so shocked, they are just some noisy ones they'll quiet down "

"no" I whisper

"huh"

"i know them"

" no way " she laughs

"they were in the games with me too, they also died"

"well I would say go and see but there is no hole over there"

I look over and there is just a big brick wall

I run over to it anyway and start banging it

"willow!" I shout "willow"

 **willow pov**

I hear someone shout my name but its muffled and I'm really confused as its not noah or Robbie who said it

its coming from the brick wall so I go over

I put my ear to the wall and my name is still being shouted

"who do you think it is?" Robbie asks concerned

"uhhh how am I supposed to know" I laugh

"who is this" I say loudly back hoping the the person shuts up

"its me" he shouts "mahic"

I look to Robbie in disbelief

"mahic?" Robbie says walking to the wall aslo in disbelief

"yes its me for fuck sake" he says getting annoyed

"why are you in here" I ask

"i could ask you thee the same question" mahic says

I smile "right come on mahic we asked you first"

"fine. I said some shiit to gillion and she didn't like it so she threw me in here, now your turn"

"well Gillion wanted us to go with her and noah said shit and he got knocked on the head. then Robbie started on the peacekeepers while I was atttacking Gillion" I sigh

"wow you guys really thought about that one" mahic says

"oh shut up we know what we did" Robbie laughs back

all of a sudden a peace keeper takes us out the room

we get put in the same room as mahic and this other lady

"we put you all together because we need more cells available and I got told to get yourselves comfy" the peacekeeper says robotically

as soon as he leaves, I run into mahics arms and give him a long kiss

oh how I have missed him

we break the kiss and go in for a hug

everyone is silent and I can feel them watching but right now I couldn't care less, it just feels so good to be back in mahics arms

we break the hug

"uh, so willow, Robbie this is laura" mahic says introducing us "laura this is willow and Robbie and Noah is the one on the bed" he continues

laura looks about the same age as my mother and looks the sort of person who should not be in this place

"you look very familiar" laura says breaking the silence examining me up and down

"uh she is Katniss's daughter, well was" mahic says trailing off at the end

"wait as in Katniss Everdeen ?" laura says in shock

"uh yeah" i say confused how its such a surprise

"sorry i have been in here since the 75th hunger games so i don't really know what shes up to these days"

"oh, well yeah I'm her daughter, my father is peeta mellark"

she laughs "i always knew it was gunna be peeta" she smiles "i was always team peeta" she giggles

"I'm sorry?" I ask really really confused

laura continues and tells me how she knew my parents but only briefly and why she was in here

it weird thinking that she knew my mother all those years ago, my mother was a different person back then

I walk over to noah hoping he'll wake up soon

I sit on the bed and put noahs head on my lap

"come on noah" I whisper

he needs to wake up

he has too

I feel myself tearing up

" please noah, for me" I whisper again and kiss him on the fore head "please"

 **Robbie Pov**

this is getting very hard

everyday there is something different

I don't know whats going to happen

I don't know what we are going to do

the cell is so big we all sit in our own space except willow who is with noah

I am sitting at the window with bars and I'm sitting looking out

"its just so hard" I hear someone whisper

I look and mahic has joined me

"i know mate, its never going to be easy" I reply

"I'm scared, I'm so scared"

i look at him and he looks dead

"you know its okay to be scared" I say and he looks up at me "I'm fucking scared, I'm so very fucking scared its like being 4 years old again and believing about the monsters under your bed, but this time the monsters are real, and we know that. the monsters are real and we have no one to protect us except each other, we need to stick together and never stop being scared cause once you've stopped being scared, I guess that's the end, the end of it all, your not really human. and sometimes... " I look up to Noah and willow on the bed "just sometimes the end is okay..."


	33. Chapter 33

**Willow pov**

everyone is asleep

noah still hasn't woken up and he has too

"come on noah" I keep whispering

I end up bursting out in tears

"I'm scared" I say quietly to noah "I'm so freaking scared and I don't know what to do" I keep sobbing " please noah"

"here, let me watch him, if he wakes up, ill wake you" I look up and mahic is standing in front of me

"i cant" I say with tears in my eyes

he doesn't say anything

he lifts noahs head puts it on the pillow the peacekeepers gave him since he was knocked out

he takes his jacket off and puts it over noah

he takes my hand and I stand up, mahic then pulls me in for a hug

I just break down

this cant be how it ends

something must become good of this

...

I wake up and its very bright

I had fallen asleep against the wall on the floor

I looked around to see where everyone is and they are all on the bed

"noah" I say

"yes willow" he looks up

"oh my god" I say in relief and run and hug him

"I'm alive don't worry"

"and your okay yeh? you don't feel dizzy or anything" I say worriedly

"yes willow I'm fine, better than fine" he smiles

I smile in relief as everyone is talking

everyone but laura

she is sitting by the open window thing

I go and sit next to her

"i don't see how you all do it" she says looking outside

i look over to everyone on the bed

"we don't" I reply

this causes her to look at me

"what do you mean?" she asks confused

"we don't do it, we cant, the only thing keeping us going is eachother. everyone is suffering we just don't like showing it"

I keep my head looking out the window

"you do show it" she whispers "you all do, just don't ask if they are okay cause that's when the truth shows and believe it or not the truth doesn't always make you smile a little more or make your day a little better, these days, the truth makes it worse, makes the days a little rainier and you a little less you"

I don't say anything back as I'm trying to think what she means

"thankyou" I whisper finally getting what she means

"you all deserve much better" she continues "all of you, including your parents, they went through so much at such a young age"

"what were my parents like in the games?" I blurt out

she looks at me and smiles "oh they were outstanding, your mother well.. " she smiles "she was brave and not the sort of brave by going in the dark woods, the brave where you went into the dark woods with monsters and demons and slayed them all. she would never ever care about herself, it was always someone else. her sister, prim, was the light in her eyes... "

I had never heard prim being used, it was always 'my sister'

"she loved prim more than anything" she continues "more than anything you could think of, when prim died, I guess a part of Katniss died too"

i cant imagine loosing rye, but i guess i sorta have in a way

fucking gillion i think to myself

"you dad on the other hand" she continues at a steady pace "peeta was also very kind and giving, he was happy for what he had in his life and grateful for it, he had a crush on your mother ever since he laid eyes on her"

we both laugh as i remember the time my parents told me that story

"in the games they got close and as you probably already know, Katniss lied about her love towards peeta. when peeta found out he became a little less him, after that he didn't trust people easily it took him a long time to be able too. he stopped showing emotion towards anyone and carried on with his life" she stops

"willow" she pauses "your mother and father are two very different people, yet completely the same"


	34. Chapter 34

**Katniss' Pov**

"right come on sleepy head" I say while picking up rye's dirty clothes

he makes a grunting sound

"come on school is in 10 minutes"

as soon as i say this he leaps out of bed

"10 minutes" he screams "you could have woken me up sooner" he says while rushing downstairs

"your clothes are on the dining room chair" i shout after him

i walk out of ryes room and walk past willow's

oh god i miss her, i miss her so much

i decide to go in

when i walk in gabi is on the floor

"Gabi?!" i shout

she is passed out on the floor with a bottle of alcohol next to her

how did she get in?

i take the bottle out of her hand and lie her on willows bed

i run downstairs to tell peeta and he runs up with me

we put her under the covers and decide its best just to leave her till she wakes

I'm sitting having lunch when gabi walks down the stairs

"I'm so sorry Katniss, i didn't mean to i just, i just, i dunno, I'm sorry" she says walking towards me

"looks its okay just please tell whats going on" i say standing up and bringing a seat over

"i just miss willow so much" she says "and i miss Robbie and i miss Noah, out in their world they have each other and in my world, here in this district, i have no one"

i stand up without saying anything and make her a cup of tea

"you do have someone Gabi, you have this family, you have annie and haymitch, yes i know its not what youu were meaning. but the past has been and gone and we cant do anything to change that. at least we know they arnt dead and we ar lucky to know that. there is a lot more families mourning out there thinking their child is dead. we love you Gabi, just want you to always know that yeah? and we will always be here and just say next time if you wanna stay, we are more than happy for that to happen" i stand up and kiss her on the fore head and take through the empty cups of tea

 **rye Pov**

even though I'm already 10 minutes late for school I still stop at my dads bakery and pick up some nice bisuits

"hey dad can I please have the usual" I ask as I walk in

all the regulars greet me and cheer to me and of course I say hi back

"rye mellark, school started 10 minutes ago" dad looks at me angrily while handing over the biscuits

"look its not my fault mum woke me up late" I smirk and hand him the money

"love you" I shout back as I walk to the door

schools got pretty shit since the games, they still teach It in history and that's what I hate the most

my whole family except myself have been in them and all people do is ask me about them and if I'm okay

my answer is always the same "yes I'm fine" with a grin

I'm not fine though and I guess I never will be

and nowadays I cant tell who is my real friends and friends that just want the attention for being friends with the famous parents and the sister who 'died'

by the time I arrive at school I have finished all the biscuits and I missed the whole of the first period

whoops

unfortunately my second period is history

when I walk in everyone stares like I'm some weird ailien

I go sit by the only friends I actually trust

Rowan and Claire

I was close, like really close to Rowan a long time before the games and I met Claire when we were voting for the president and now we are all pretty close

"wow, new record" Claire whispers from behind me

"i was tired okay" I smirk

"that's what they all say" rowan joins in beside me

"right, Rye you havnt been here 5 minutes and already disrupting the class, take it you know all this?" the teacher screams from the front

"no, sorry miss" I say back holding in my laughter

she goes on about the games that have just happened and shows us clips

and I really really hate it

Miss Larence hates me, I have no idea why cause I have done nothing

she shows us clips of people getting hurt and saying how they should have done this should have done that

it comes to willow

"now, see how she does that, shell have to do better next time" she says but I can tell as soon as she said that, she immediately regretted it

"oh rye I'm so very sorry" mrs larence looks at me in sorrow

"no your not" I whisper

"what did you just say" she says back

"this is a history class, not looking at peoples techniques for killing someone. those are kids in there its hardly likely they are gunna be brilliant at killing or defending themselves is it? so why don't you go into the fucking games and show how its done since your so judgmental how those kids are doing it." before I know it I have my bag on and I am leaving the class room

I walk out and start kicking the lockers

urgh, why couldn't of she just came back, her and noah and Robbie

that's all people wanted, for them to come home

I start walking towards the woods as I don't see the point staying in school

I mutter to myself getting really annoyed

like urgghhh

when I get to the woods I go to my usual spot

Its just so hard, I think to myself

everything these days are

I suddenly hear a rustling noise behind me

I quickly twist my head to see what it is

and standing there is thorn

I stand up and give her a hug

"your back" I say in relief

after thorn saw the whipping to willow and mahic she went home and tried to fix things with her parents

"they didn't accept" she sighs

I break the hug "what do you mean they didn't accept"

"they aren't forgiving me, they aren't letting me back in the house"

she sits down on the grass "any news on willow?" she continues trying to change the subject

"no, havnt heard from them since they were here last"

"that's odd, I went to the capitol for a the day on my way back here tying to find someone called mark tine and no one had seen them since they were here"

hmmmm I think "that does sound odd"

we both sit in silence

"what about Robbie and Noah, they will know where she is, they were here after the whipping to take willow back"

"no, no one has seen them either" she says back quickly

"they wouldn't have run away, would they?" I start to second guess myself

"well maybe Rye, in a world like theirs and supprised theyre still wanting to live"


	35. Chapter 35

**willow pov**

its been a couple days now in these lonely holes and its felt like a life time

theres been a lot of silences and no one has really talked

all of sudden out of no where there is a siren going off, it sounds like its from the other side of the capitol

"what the hell is that" noah says walking over to the window where everyone stands

"i have no idea" I reply

as we just stand there looking out to the capitol trying to figure out what is wrong the siren grows louder and louder, soon the siren is going off all around the capitol

"guys look" Robbie says pointing to the streets

we all look down and in the streets people are running and getting in cars, peacekeepers are getting people on big vehicles

"what the fuck is going on" mahic asks

"i don't know but it doesn't look good" I say slowly walking to the door

"what you doing" Robbie asks puzzled

I don't say anything and take the mattress off the bed and lift the metal frame of the bed which isn't actually that heavy

I look at everyone hoping they'll give me a hand and they do once they catched on what I was doing

we all grab a side of the bed and run to the door, the peacekeepers are obviously not there as they would have come in and whipped us by now

I could see the lock loosening

a few more times the door was down, when we all walk out the cell, there was no peacekeepers too be seen and usually there is at least 4

"where are they all" I whisper to myself getting wierded out

we follow the steps down and all the doors are open like wide open, not even shut closed

"nah guys whats going on" mahic says starting to freak

"look we aren't gunna find out until we get out there" I sigh

it was very odd, when we got to the front office of the lonely holes, there was no one, some chairs were knocked over and paper all over the floor

"they were running away" laura whispers

"huh?" mahic says

"they were running away" she says more loudly, she picks up some paper "but from what?" she continues

she starts walking towards the door that leads outside while the rest of us stay still

"wait" I say loudly, everyone stays still "if they were running away then it probably wasn't rainbows and ponys, I say we get some weapons. its obviously a bad thing other wise everyone would still be here and the sirens wouldn't have gone off"

I head into one of the offices and look for weapons anything at all

"well this is a prison, there must be something" I hear mahic say from the hall, and everyone starts looking

"guys..." noah shouts nervously

we all walk over to where noah was standing, there was a big safe which had the keys in the lock but on the floor was a body with blood surrounding it

I start freaking out and start walking backwards "no no no" I whisper, I keep walking backwards, I bump into mahic who was standing behind me. I keep getting flashbacks from the games

"hey willow, you okay" he turns me around and he holds my shoulders

I cant say anything, I just start shaking. Mahic starts to realise that I wasn't okay and he takes me out to the main space and sits me down

"i cant do this, not now" I whisper

"I know, I know" mahic whispers and holds me in his arms an starts stroking my hair

we sit there for a bit then noah walks in with some guns that were in the safe

"here let me" I hear laura say and mahic hands me over to her and mahic goes and gets his and myselfs weapons.

she stands me up "you can do this Willow, its gunna be hard I know, but you gotta keep strong and do this " she says getting my weapon off mahic and passing it to me

I don't say anything and follow everyone out the door with mahic by my side

there is no one, the streets are totally abandoned, I don't understand what was that bad that everyone needed to leave

we keep quiet as we head to the station, we keep to the sides of the streets and stay low

when we get to the station it was busy, very busy, there was lots of people trying to get on the train. so we try to hide our weapons

"excuse me, sorry but where does this train head?" laura asks a peacekeeper politely

"out of panem" he says bluntly and walks over to the train

what? out of panem, there is nothing outside of panem

"look there is a car over there, we can drive to 12" I say thinking of a way to get to 12

"what if they are evacuating the districts too" Robbie says

"its the districts, unlikely they are, peacekeepers don't care for the districts" I say quickly

"plus who do you think is going to drive" noah says disagreeing with the plan

I turn my head to laura

she laughs "i havnt driven a car in 30 odd years" she continues laughing but no one else does and then she realises I am being serious

"i guess I could try" she says while quickly walking over to the car

 **Rye Pov**

I didn't really want to go back to the house, knowing my parents have probably got a phone call home

"now where have you been" my mother says while I walk through the door

"with thorn" I reply

when she hears thorns names she come scurrying to the door

"well hello thorn" she says with a smile from cheek to cheek

"hi Katniss" thorn says back

"is it okay for her to live here now" I say with a doubt she will say no

"oh yes of course thorn can stay," she says smiling once again, she turns to thorn "you'll have to stay on the sofa in ryes bedroom for now till we sort something proper"

"what about willows room?" I ask

"oh gabi has that tonight" she says and walk back to the kitchen to make dinner

annie and haymitch are already here

"lets go to my room" I say while laughing knowing that there isn't much entertainment here

"yes lets"

we get to my room and I help thorn unpack her stuff

"im homeee" I hear my dad say downstairs "and guess who showed up"

as soon as he says this both myself and thorn we interested to see who it was

we run downstairs and Gale and Corrie are standing at the door

"fuck sake" I say

"language!" my dad shouts at me

"what you expect me to be happy that Corrie is here, the one that almost got our family killed, yeah no thought not " I turn to corrie "fuck off" and walk back upstairs and Thorn follows

"fuck this shit" I shout and start punching the wall

"hey dude, look hes only here for dinner if that" thorn says tying to calm me down

I didn't realise how hard I was hitting the wall till thorn pulled me away

I just break down right there in front of thorn

 **thorn pov**

he breaks down right in front of me and I run into the bathroom and get a wet cloth

I come back and put the cloth on his knuckles as there is blood pouring out of them

he falls onto my shoulder and starts crying and I just hug him as I know that no words can make him feel better at this point

he needs willow, that's all he needs right now. the old willow, the one that was his bestfriend

that's what he wants, that's what he needs


	36. Chapter 36

**Thorn pov**

rye and I fell asleep really early as we were really tired and didn't really want to go down stairs

"rye, wake up" I shake him. its about 5 in the morning but I want to go hunting to get our mind off things

rye turns his back to me and groans

"rye!" I whisper shout trying not to wake the others

I stand up and pull the covers off the bed which makes rye sit up

"come on lazy, lets go hunting" I chuck him his jacket and start heading downstairs

5 minutes later rye comes down the stairs fully prepared and more awake this time

I hand him an apple and we both head out the door

"so, I was thinking" I say as we come to the edge of the forest "its my birthday coming up soon and I kinda want to uh" I trail off wondering if this is a good idea or not

"what" rye says concerning

"uh well, I kinda want to see my brother and he hasn't been seen around and he was supposedly been sent back to the capital after the whipping and uh I think we should go to the capital and try find him and willow" I say kind of rushing at the end and then look at rye hoping for a yes

"look thorn I don't kn-"

"please please pleaseeeee, we can just say to your parents we are away for a day trip for my birthday" I jump up and down in a begging sort of way

"but its dangerous for us thorn! we found out that the people in the games never actually died, this could get us killed or mahic or even willow" rye says

I sigh

"butt" rye speaks up

I look at him with my best puppy dog eyes

"if we are going to do this we need a plan, and a proper one and its only fair if gabi comes too"

I scream

"yasssss" I hug rye as tight as I can then I let go and start jumping up and down "we're going on a mission, we're going on a mission" I chant and scream a bit more with excitedness

we head back to the the village and we go to the bakery but on our way there this big peacekeepers truck comes charging in with about 7 more after that and peacekeepers come bursting out of them grabbing people and putting them on the tuck and telling everyone to get on

these big loud sirens start going off, ones ive never heard of before

"DAD" I hear rye scream

I turn around and peeta is getting dragged away by two peacekeepers and he is fighting for his life

"ill find you" he shouts back

" rye we got to run" I start running

" now rye" I scream back and rye runs towards me with tears rushing down his face

we run so fast I cant feel my legs

we run back to the house and its already been searched the door was wide open and it looked like Katniss didn't go without a struggle either or haymich

"gabi!" rye suddenly says and starts sprinting up stairs and I follow

we run into willows room and the room is a mess just like all the other rooms

we start searching the house for gabi

"guys" gabi shouts coming in the back door and gives us a quick hug

"we need to leave now, apparently the capitol has been evacuated too and they are sending everyone outside panem, this isn't good whatever it is but we need to find where they are taking everyone"

gabi then goes upstairs to pack the essentials leaving me and rye silently together both very scared

"thorn" I look at rye who looks so scared "what are we going to do"

"i -I uh I don't know" we stand there in silence looking at the mess that was once our home

 **willow pov**

as we start to head towards the car, a couple peacekeepers see us and start heading towards us

shit shit shit

I look around and there is no one except us and the peacekeepers

the peacekeepers run towards us with their battons held above their head and without thinking I shoot them

without a second thought

I turned away and started walking to the car and everyone followed me and I could feel all their eyes on me

as we got closer to the vehicle we realised it was a peacekeeper van which was an advantage in a way, it was quick and had a lot of space

we realised that we had no key and that our plan had completely failed

"well that worked" says Robbie leaning against the van

"wait a minute" I whisper to myself

if the peacekeepers all drive the same van then they all have the same key no matter who they were cause it wasn't the peacekeepers property it was the capitals

I start running towards the 2 peacekeepers I shot down, they both had a key

I ran back with everyone looking at me puzzled not sure what my plan was

when I got to them I stopped and held up the key

"they all have the same key right?" I start to laugh and pass it onto laura

"your a fucking genius will" mahic says and puts his arm around me and kisses the top of my head

we all get in the van and make ourselves comfy for the long drive ahead

Robbie sits in the front with laura to keep her company while the rest of us try get some rest in the back

we reached district 4 quite quickly

"uh guys" Robbie says reaching back and shaking noah and the van stops and Robbie gets out

"what" I say tired and I sit up and follow everyone out the van

"its dead" Robbie says "no ones here" he says and starts to walk towards the pier quite fast

"Robbie" shout after him and start running as well

I hear everyone else get back into the van and follow us

we reach the pier and Robbie goes and looks in his house

"MUM" Robbie shouts through out the house

"Robbie she isn't here" I say quietly

the house is ruined the tables knocked over the windows broken the door has fallen off its hinges and it looks the same at every other house in 4

"Robbie" I say walking up to him as he is still shouting "shes not here, they've taken her"

"no" Robbie whispers "she cant be gone"

"mum" he continues to scream trying to block me out

"Robbie" I shout this time and grab his arm

and all of a sudden he pulls his arm away turns round and punches me and I fall to the gound

"you don't know where she is!" he shouts at me "stop saying things that you don't know!"

I start to tear up as ive never seen Robbie like this

I look at my hands and there is blood surrounding me and I realise I'm actually in a lot of pain and I start to go dizy

"Robbie" I pant

"no willow , I'm not going to listen to you anymore!" Robbie has looked away and is searching the living room

"Robbie" I say a bit louder and he looks around and sees my legs and they are covered in blood

"shit" he whispers

"mahic, noah!" he screams as he bends to my level and trys to keep me awake

"I'm sorry, oh my god what have I done" I hear him say and it goes black

 **mahic pov**

we follow them to the pier in the van but we decide to let them be alone so we just stayed in the van

after a while I hear some shouting so I decide to get out the van and as soon as I do I hear my name being sceamed by someone and I think its Robbie

I bang the van so that noah comes out too

I run into the living room and willow is out cold lying on a pile of glass and her head in robbies arms and he shaking and in shock

"right mahic you go sort Robbie out make sure he is sitting up right and give him a blanket and get him a glass of water and make sure you keep talking to him" noah says quickly while handing Robbie over to me

I do what he says as noah is older than me and knows a lot more about this stuff than me

I take Robbie over by the wall and sit him up and do everything noah says

when I look back over to noah, laura is now in with a load of first aid kits from the van, they move willow onto the table and put her laying on it so her belly is touching the table

by this time Robbie is more alert and awake and we both make our way to the dining room where willow is

noah and laura are both picking out bits of glass out of her hands, bum and mostly legs

the worst was her legs, there was big shards of glass sticking out which could be really serious if we took them out

"here Mahic, get something cold from the fridge and hold I against willows face where the swelling is, it will help it go down and wont hurt as much when she wakes

"what have I done" I hear Robbie whisper as I go to the fridge

"hey mate, look, you wern't thinking straight you just wanted to find your mum, you were worried and scared that's all" noah says still trying to stop he bleeding

I admire noah

he cares so much for everyone and helps so much, he stays so calm in situations like this and wants to help and uses every inch of knowledge to do so

its been about 30 minutes and all the glass is out and the blood has stopped pouring out her body

laura makes everyone a cup of tea

"thankyou laura " I say

"aw don't worry, ive missed making a good brew" she says and sits on the couch

I hear noah laugh to himself, he is over by the fire place looking at the pictures

"rememeber this" he says and turns round and shows Robbie a picture of noah, Robbie, willow and this other girl

"yes" Robbie smirks "that was a good day"

"whos that" I ask and point at the girl

"oh thats Gabi, willow and her are like sisters" says noah smiling at the photo

"wait is that the girl who willow was shouting at that day in 12"

"probably, we wernt there mind" Robbie says "but yes it would've been, Gabi is like a sister to all of us and it mustve been so hard to lose us all"

"shes all alone" someone says weakly

everyone moves their head in the same direction

"willow!" noah says happily, he passes the photo to Robbie and heads over to her

noah starts to change the dressing and puts bandages on for the long term

"remember this" Robbie is now up beside her showing her the picture

"yes" willow says weakly and laughs a little "that's why we need to find her, shes alone, got no body, we were the closest she had"

willow starts to get up

"look take it easy" noah says doing the last of the bandages on her hand "we need to get moving, are you able to to walk" noah helps her to her feet and I rush over to help

Robbie takes the photo out the frame and puts it in his pocket

"right laura are you ready to go"

no answer

we all turn round to where she was sitting but she bent at the fire place holding a picture and crying to herself

"you never told me Annie was your mum" she whispers

we all looked confused at her

"sorry what laura?" Robbie says going to kneel beside her, we put willow back down

"annie, she was my best friend" she tilts a picture towards Robbie and its a picture of her and Annie when they were teens like us

"you knew her" Robbie says taking the picture

"oh god, yes " she chuckles to herself "we were like sisters, doing everything together"

"what happened" Robbie whispers

"the games happened" she burst out crying

Robbie decides to leave it at that

"hey Robbie!" laura says quickly "am I aloud to keep the picture"

"yeh, of course"

Robbie takes the photo out the frame

"look on the back it says something, I don't know what it means though" Robbie says handing it over

 _I remember Laura! I remember._

when laura reads this her face lights up and she sighs a sigh of relief

 **noah pov**

"right come on guys we need to get going if we want to find anyone" I say helping willow up

we get to the van and Robbie decides to drive and give laura a break

I check the weapons and see if there is enough amo, willow and mahic are asleep

I just hope we find gabi soon

I miss her so much and I am so worried she is in trouble

"Gabi is strong"

I look up and willows eyes are open but her head still rests on mahics knees

"huh?" I say confused

"she is stong and she is a fighter, whatever she is doing right know will be good and she will be helping somebody"

"how did yo-"

"noah, ive known you for like forever"

I smile

"thank you" I look at willow "we will find her right?"

"yes noah, I'm not going to stop till we do"

she holds out her hand and I take it

"thankyou" I whisper

she just squeezes my hand, and that's all I need from willow to know that shes always going to be there


	37. Chapter 37

**rye pov**

"how much longer guys" I hear thorn from behind

I look back and thorn is really struggling

we've been walking for about 10 hours straight, we need to get to 11 to see if they have been taken as well which they probably have but its our only shot" I shout back at thorn

"right lets just sit and rest now, its getting dark" gabi says walking over to this bunch of trees and getting a couple blankets out her bag

thorn collapses by the tree

"here drink this" I hand her a bottle of my water

I sit beside her and pull a blanket over the both of us

"Gabi" I look at gabi "what happens if we don't find willow"

"we will rye, we will find all of them" she says not that confidently

she starts to make a fire then lies down beside it

I watch the fire grow and the flames fly up

and that's the last thing I remember before I drift off to sleep

 **willow pov**

we travel over night with Robbie and laura swapping to drive and stopping every so often for fuel

I sleep for almost every moment

when we reach distict 9 the sun is rising

we stop in 9 to find food and water

"this place is empty aswell" laura says quietly

"they must of evacuated all the districts" mahic says while we walk into the square

"but look at the mess" I say "it was like this in 4 as well, I doubt they were asked to leave, it looks like people fought to stay"

"do you think they had any idea what was happening" noah says picking up this trampled teddy bear off the ground

"by the looks of it, I don't think they did" I say

"our parents" Robbie says "gabi" he turns round to face us "Rye, haymich"

"thorn" mahic whispers quietly

"they are all gone" Robbie says and starts looking round him

I take in what he says and he was right, if they raided the districts they would've taken every one and not left anyone behind

we continue to find food and water

"wait!"

we all turn our heads to a house to he side of us

there is a little girl about 6/7 with her hand held out

"can I please have my teddy back"

she looks at noah hoping he does, she has got long brong hair that reaches her bottom and she is very pale and dirty and looks like she has a blow to the head

noah walks up to her and crouches so he's at her height and hands her the teddy

"where is your mum" Noah says smoothly

"she said to hide in the box and not come out till it was quiet" she points to the box and it was a very small box

"whats your name" noah tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear

"sophie" she says so quietly I'm surprised I hear her

"okay sophie, do you want to come with us" noah stands up and offers his hand "I'm noah and we are going to find your mum, and you can bring teddy too" he stands there for a moment waiting to see what sophie does

she takes noahs hand and noah looks back at us pleased

we carry on walking with noah holding sophies hand

we come to a stall that has been abandoned, full of bread, cheese and milk and a few bits of fruit

I start wrapping up the bits of bread and cheese for later while the others start picking out bits to eat now

 **noah pov**

sophie is the cutest wee girl

there was a knife on the table of the stall so I cut up and apple for her and when she ate it it was like she hadn't eaten in days

"how long have you been here alone" I decide to ask

she stops eating her slice of apple "I was in the box for the night"

"was it not scary?" handing her another bit of apple

"yes, when I shouted for mummy to come say her bedtime story she never came and I was too scared to get out the box"

willow interrupts by handing Sophie a sandwich

sophie doesn't take it and hides behind me

"hey, its okay" I say as I take the snadwhich off willow and hand it too her "this Is willow"

I take sophies hand again and pull her infront of me

willow smiles at her and sophie smiles back "hi" sophie says softly

"hi sophie" willow replies "why don't you eat that, its very good and you will need some energy for the drive"

I hold out the sandwich in front of sohpie and she takes it

"right come on we need to get moving again" Robbie says walking towards with all our water bottles filled

and we do as he says and once again we start moving

 **thorn pov**

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping in the trees above us

at first I have no idea where I am but then I remember

I lift my head off ryes shoulder and squint my eyes at the sun

"guys wake up we need to get a move on" I say realising we have no food or water left

no one says anything as we pack up and start walking again we just keep our thoughts to ourselfs

"look theres 11" gabi speaks up after about an hour

I lift my head and about 2 miles away are the perimeter fences

"you know if we went along the train track it would've been a lot quicker" rye says smirking

"oh shut up rye, if we went that way peacekeepers could have seen us

I laugh a little to myself watching them bicker

"come on then, what we waiting for" I say more enthusiastically and start picking up the pace

when we reach the fence we just climb through as we know they aren't on even though there are signs saying 'high voltage'

we walk in but what I saw was not what I was expecting

it was worse than 12 there were bodies on the ground that looked they have been run over and some that have been shot

"shit" I hear gabi whisper

we walk silently into the square, not a single person, the houses are destroyed some look like they have been burnt

"oi!"

all 3 of us turn around

and theres a girl looking about gabi's age standing there with a peacekeepers gun

we drop our stuff immediately and put our hands up

"don't hurt us please" I gabi shouts "we are just tying to find food and water"

the girl puts her gun down and walks towards us

"rye?" she says puzzled, I look at rye and he looks confused too

she walks closer to us and then when she does ryes face softens and smiles at her

"cara" he says

cara? whos cara

"what the hell are you doing out here" she says worrying

"looking for willow" rye says

"and Robbie and noah" gabi says

"and Mahic" I put in

"wait" she says her face crumpled up "they are dead, I watched willow die"

oh shit she doesn't know

"we have a lot to catch up on" says rye

I still have no clue who this girl is

"oh sorry, this is cara" rye says to gabi and I "cara, this is Gabi and Thorn"

"so your the famous Cara, I thought I reconized you" gabi says putting her hand out

"and your the famous Gabi" Cara says shaking her hand

"this Is thorn mahics sister" gabi says pointing at me

"hey thorn, your brother is very brave for what he did in the games" she says then stands back "right now can some one tell me why the fuck you are looking for dead people" she says laughing

rye tells her everything from start to finish, how they came here on a 'business trip' and that we found out that they were them anf they got whips for it

rye didn't miss any detail

"so willow isn't dead" cara says with a smile

"no" rye says also with a smile

"wait how do you know willow" I say puzzled

"a few years ago we were very close, we used to go to each others districts and help out, then our parents stopped us from seeing each other, or well my parents did"

"oh" is all I manage to say

"well I know a place with food and water but if I let you have it, can I join you guys, there is no one left here"

"of course" gabi "the more the merrier right" she looked at me and I smiled but it wasn't very convincing

I was just tired and thirsty, cara seems really nice

we follow here through a ruined house there was no roof

"did they set the houses on fire" Gabi says looking up to where the roof once was

"yes, they set nearly all of the houses of fire, you were lucky if you got out alive"

no one said anything we just continued to follow her

"people started to fight back, no one knew what was happening, so they started putting things on fire, the siren wailed so loud you couldn't hear your own screams" she sighed "they begin to take the children first, ripping them out f their parents arms like ripping the last page of a book out, they shot a lot of the parents who tried to get on the van with their child" we walk past a pile of bodies "people were run over by the trucks coming in, so many came in but when they left so many more people could of been put on them"

"how did escape it" rye says quietly

"I didn't, I was tying to find my brother and then I saw him get put on a van and my dad was there trying to get on to, they shot him, right there" she pointed at a point in the road "I ran to get my brother, when no one was watching I took him off the van, he is only small so I had to carry him, peacekeepers saw me and chucked us both on a van, when the closed the doors I looked round the back and the kids looked so so so scared, shivering, I managed to get the door open, when I did I turned round to get my brother but he wasn't there, he wasn't there at all it was all girls so I jumped knowing he wasn't on the van. yesterday I searched all over 11 trying to find him but there was nothing, no sign of anyone alive, no sign of my brother"

"we will find him" Gabi says "we will find hem all"

I keep my head down knowing that we might not and they might be dead, we don't know

 **Robbie pov**

I cant stop thinking about what has happened to everyone and why they were evacuated, I look back and that wee girl, sophie, she is sound asleep on noah and so is noah, I look over to willow and mahic who are both reading a book that we found in 4

"laura you okay" I say shuffling my body to face the font

"yeh Im fine" she says quietly , she hasn't really been speaking much since 4

we reach 11 by night fall

"guys" I say turning round but all 4 of them are fast asleep

"here why don't I go see if there is any where to stay for the night and you stay here and look over them" laura says and she starts getting out the tuck

"you sure?"

"yeh I'm sure, just sort need some time on my own"

"okay, laura take this, just incase" I hand her my peacekeepers gun

"thanks" she says quietly and walks out the van

 **laura pov**

I walk out the van and start looking round,

jeez this weapon is heavier than I thought

11 is much worse than the other districts

there is bodies everywhere and its very smokey, its like the place has been up in smoke

"shhhhh"

I move my head so fast in the direction that the noise was coming from

"who was that" I say quickly putting the gun up and shaking but I try not to show that

"please I don't want to hurt anyone" I say about crying but I push the tears back "my friends and I are just looking for shelter for the night"

when I say that that I realise how dark it has gotten and I start getting really scared and I debate shouting for Robbie or not

I turn round and start running back to the truck but 2 girls run infront me with there weapons up, I stop suddenly

"please" I start to cry "my friends are tired and need to rest"

they drop their weapons but don't let me past

I remember that willow is hurt so I use that

"one of my friends are injured and we need to sort her bandages out and we cant do that in the back of a van"

"how many of you are there" one of the girls say

"6 of us one of us is only 7 and she needs water"

"hey Gabi, they are all out the van now, rye is still getting water" another girl says running up looking at the girl on my right

"please don't hurt them" I say and they all draw their attention to me

"hey wheres our friend" Robbie comes running up with everyone else following except willow and mahic, I assume willow is to sore to move

"look we cant just trust people like that pal" I think it was gabi that said that to robbie

I see robbies face drop

"noah" he whispers

noah stands up from being at sophies level

"oh my god" I hear the girl say beside me

"gabi" I hear noah say

noah drops sophies hand and runs to gabi so fast and they hug

"ii thought I would never see you again" noah says in tears into her ear still hugging

"I'm here noah, its me" she says back

Robbie walks up slowly looking shocked

"I cant believe it" he says tearing up

noah and gabi break the hug and gabi runs into robbies arms

and this time gabi bursts out crying

"mahic" the other girl beside me says "where mahic" she says paniky

 **willow pov**

everyone goes out to find laura and I can hardly move so I stay in the van with mahic

I hear Robbie shouting so mahic helps me out the van and we follow the voices

I see thorn standing beside laura and Robbie and someone I cant see hugging and noah is crying looking at me crying

"oh my god" I say and fall to the ground crying, I'm crying cause I'm so relived and happy we found them

I look up and smile so much and laugh that we actually found them

I stand back up

"mahic!" I hear thorn scream

mahic moves his head so fast and as soon as he sees who it is he runs towards her and picks her up

"gabi" I whisper

"gabi!" I shout

Robbie turns around and gabi is behind him

"oh my god" I say and cry some my

I put my hand to my mouth im in shock as I never thought I was ever going to see her again

she starts running to me and I just hobble along and of course we hug, just like pretty much everyone else

"I cant believe its you" I whisper

she just hugs me tighter and it hurts so much I don't care

I break the hug so suddenly "wheres rye" I say sternly

"he was getting water" someone says beside me, I look over and its cara

"cara" I sigh a sigh of relief

"hey girl" she says

"hey boyyy" I say laughing as this is how we used to introduce each other

"willow!" I hear rye scream from the end of the street

"rye!" I shout back

I run so fast

"willow I really don't think you should run" noah says as I rrun past him but I really couldn't care less what he said right now

rye runs into my arms and I don't let go

he is crying so much and I kiss him on the head

we break the hug

"your here" he hardly says "mum , dad, they-they a-a-are go-"

"shhhhhh" I say pulling him back into a hug

"we will find them, I'm here don't worry, I'm here" he looks at me in the eye

"I'm never going to leave you again"


	38. Chapter 38

**willow Pov**

That night I couldn't sleep, so I decided to stay watch

we all took shelter in the ruins of a house. I got out my sleeping bag and stood up, I was feeling so much better.. when I stood up I smiled as I looked around happy that I finally found my family.

Rye and Thorn were cosy in a sleeping bag in one of the corners, Gabi and Robbie sharing another, Cara was sound asleep next to Noah who was looking over Sophie in his sleeping bag, laura was reading a book on fish that we found in 4 and I looked down at Mahic who was smiling right at me

"sorry I thought you were asleep" I whisper

he stands up and smiles at me "here I want to show you something"

he takes my hand and we go outside and we go to the outskirts of 11

we sit down and I look out to the many trees and the hills in the distant with the sun rising above it

it reminds me of the time I used to go out hunting early before school with my mum when I was young and how much I miss them.

I put my hands in my coat pocket and I feel something cold, I take it out and I'm shocked. its the ring Musit gave me at the start of the games

I can feel tears at the back of my throat

"I thought they took this after the games" I say to Mahic but I keep looking at the ring

"what is it" he says and I pass it over to him

"they must of put it in my pocket to keep"

"together we fight, together we fall" he whispers swiping his thumb over the writing and he hands it back

"he gave it to me so I wouldn't forget" I say quietly

"forget what?" mahic puts an arm around me an gives me back the ring

"so I wouldn't forget about the people I love, the people who helped me in the games, the people who I need to help and most of all I wouldn't forget myself and who I really am"

"thorn gave me something before the games too" Mahic says reaching for his necklace around his neck, he shows me a silver necklace with a flower charm at the end

"its beautiful" I say looking at the very fine detail that had been put in to it

"it used to be my sisters"

"thorns?"

"no" he pauses "dandy, she disappeared 3 years ago"

I didn't say anything as I had no clue what to say

"she was 5" he carries on "we were In the woods, me and her, and she fell over a tree root and what I thought was a broken ankle. there was no one else with us so I had to leave her to get help" he takes a deep breath and I hold his hand and he squeezes it. "when I got back to the spot where she fell with my dad and thorn, she was gone, there was no trace of anyone being there"

I look at him and his eyes were red, by this time the sun was almost fully in the sky

I lean forward and kiss his lips and put my hands on his cheeks and I can feel his tears run on to my hand

I pull away "it will get better, everything has to end at some point" I whisper and wipe away his tears from underneath his eyes

I feel his hands wrap round my waist and he presses his lips against mine, I put his cheeks in my hands and I can feel the warm sun on the back of my neck

I hear Gabi telling everyone to get up with her shouting from a distance

we break the kiss and I pull him into a hug

"I love you" he whispers into my ear

I break the hug and look into his eyes

"I love you too"

I stand up and start heading back and mahic follows

 **Noahs pov**

when i see willow and mahic leave with willow smiling it makes me smile, its by time she found someone that makes her happy. i look back at sophie and she is fast asleep. She reminds me so much of my wee sister. aw god i miss her so much, she is only 4 and she wont know what is happening and why I'm not coming home.

i must have fallen asleep cause i get waken up by gabi's loud shouting telling everyone to get up. the sun has risen and everyone is packing

i go over to cara realising i havnt introduced myself

"hey cara, I'm Noah" i put my hand out

"hi Noah, heard a lot about you" and she shakes my hand

we had a chat with odd awkward silent pauses

"Noah" i hear a little voice from beside me

i bend down to sophies level

"Hiya sophs, this is cara" i say and look up to cara

"hello there and what might your name be" Cara says politely crouching to out level

"sophie" she says quietly

"well its nice to meet you sophie"

 **Gabi Pov**

we got to get a move on

its nice that we all found each other but we got to find people and fast

"is it okay we use the van" i ask laura

"of course, you don't need to ask" she smiles "it might be a tight squeeze but we will manage"

i smile back of course

she seems so lovely, i wonder how they all met

"right come on guys lets get a move on" i say gathering the water and putting it in the back of the truck

sophie and what i think is noah gets on first

Its so confusing i don't know who the hell anyone is, I know willow cause she is the only girl that changed. But Noah, Robbie and Mahic, i cant tell who is who. i just sorta guess

"Robbie" i say loudly looking around at who reacts, the person who is getting in the drivers seat looks at me, i take a long look at his face so i remember it

"you okay gabs" he says walking over

" oh yeh, I mean I'm just looking so i don't forget its you, like everything has changed about you"

I look at his face and he looks heart broken that I don't recognize him

"I'm sorry" i whisper

"nah nah its fine" he says shaking it off "here let me help you with the food" he picks up a bag and walks back to the van and i follow silently

In the back of the van it is very quiet for a good hour before anyone speaks up

"so what happened to you guys after the you know.. the whipping" i say looking over to Mahic and Willow

willow sits up from resting on mahics shoulder

"well as you guys know i was left on the ground in 12 and Robbie and noah came and helped me" willow says, she carries on the story about what happened and how she was in the lonely holes which are above ground and how they met laura

Mahic then tells his side of the story as does noah and Robbie. its almost like we go round in a circle and we told everyone how we got here

 **Willow Pov**

after we share our stories we all go silent again like we have nothing else to talk about. its almost like we are all strangers meeting and i guess we are. as cheesy as it sounds the games changed all of us and I don't think anyone is the same person.

i look over to rye who is looking at a picture in his hands

"whats that i whisper" as a lot of people have fallen asleep

rye looks up and hands me the photo and at the first glance i take i know exactly what it is. its the picture of rye, kyle, Robbie, gabi, noah and i

"oh my" i say and smile

i stroke my fingers over the photo looking at how we used to look like and a load of memories flooded back

"i miss you" rye suddenly says

i look up

"i miss me too" i say back

"whats that" gabi says putting out her hand

when she looks at the picture its like she forgot about everything that's happening right now and she was remembering the old times

"time flies eh?" Noah buts it

all 3 of our heads look towards noah

"sure does" gabi smiles and hands the photo back to rye

we stop at 10 when the sun is setting

myself, Noah, Gabi and Robbie all went to the top of a house just to look around

when we reach the top, i feel the sun glowing on my face and the wind flowing through my hair

"I'm so happy we are together again" i say with my eyes closed

"i mean it has been one crazy journey" Robbie laughs

there was a pause

"i thought i would never see any of you again" gabi says walking closer to the rest of us, we all look at her "i thought after the games when i saw you all die, that, that was the end and i would have no one no one that would understand me" she sighs "when i realised you were in 12 but a different person i thought it was a chance to have you back, at least you had the heart of willow" she looks at me and all i want her to do is hug her but i let her finish "i needed someone, that's why i never gave up believing it was you. why it was my fault you got whipped. and when you left again. its like my heart broke again into a million shards" tears were running down her face at this point and so do i "i had you back, and then you were gone. and i had no body again, no one. i thought that at least you guys had each other you know, in your world but i was alone. and even though i might not be able to tell you apart" she looks at Robbie and noah and we laugh "at least i have you all back and I'm so fucking grateful"

i run and give her hug and say nothing

soon enough i feel noah and Robbie joinig the hug

"god i missed you guys" i hear Robbie with a relieved sigh

we all laugh and watch then watch the day turn to night


End file.
